Association of microRNA-181c expression with the progression and prognosis of human gastric carcinoma.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The relationship of miR-181c, a potential tumor regulatory factor, with gastric cancer is not well studied. We have investigated this relationship in our study. METHODOLOGY: Paraffin-embedded tissue specimens from 103 gastric cancer patients were subjected to total RNA extraction. Reverse transcription real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR was used to detect miR-181c expression. Its relative expression was correlated with the patients' clinicopathological features. Also, the 5-year survival rate and median survival time were correlated with the miR-181c expression level. RESULTS: miR-181c expression was significantly and directly correlated with the degree of tumor differentiation, invasive depth and clinical stage. Moreover, lymph node metastasis was significantly related with higher miR-181c expression. However, miR-181c expression was not significantly correlated with gender, age, tumor location and distant metastasis. The 5-year overall survival rate and median survival time were significantly greater in patients with low expression of miR-181c. CONCLUSIONS: miR-181c expression level was significantly related to several clinicopathological features of gastric cancer; therefore, miR-181c probably plays a role in its development and progression. This relationship needs to be studied in detail, so that the potential use of miR-181c as a marker for gastric cancer and therapeutic target can be explored.