High serum microRNA-122 level is independently associated with higher overall survival rate in hepatocellular carcinoma patients

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that some microRNAs (miRs) are intensively involved in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma. We analyzed the prognostic role of serum microRNA (miR-122) levels in hepatocellular carcinoma patients using a retrospective design. MiR-122 levels in 122 hepatocellular carcinoma patients were measured, and Cox regression analysis was performed to analyze the prognostic role of miR-122 in hepatocellular carcinoma, and the hazard ratio (HR) with 95 % confidence interval (95 %CI) was used to evaluate its prognostic role. Patients with large tumor size had lower levels of serum miR-122 (P = 0.04). However, there was no significant association of serum miR-122 levels with other clinical characteristics. Kaplan-Meier method showed that there was higher overall survival rate in hepatocellular carcinoma patients with high serum miR-122 levels compared with those with low miR-122 level (P < 0.01). When using Cox regression analysis, high serum miR-122 level was independently associated with better overall survival in hepatocellular carcinoma patients (HR = 0.26; 95 %CI 0.14-0.47, P < 0.01). Subgroup analysis by gender showed that high serum miR-122 level was independently associated with better overall survival in male patients (HR = 0.08; 95 %CI 0.03-0.22, P < 0.01), but not in female patients (HR = 0.48; 95 %CI 0.18-1.32, P = 0.16). Thus, the outcomes in the analysis suggest that high serum miR-122 level is independently associated with higher overall survival rate in hepatocellular carcinoma patients, and it is a good biomarker of better prognosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Biomarker MicroRNAs for Diagnosis, Prognosis and Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Functional Survey and Comparison

“…miR-125a-5p, miR-128-3p, miR-188-5p, miR-206, miR-212-3p, miR-424-5p and miR-744-5p) were outstandingly correlated with limitless replicative potential and could provide positive prognostic values for HCC3846474852566465697073747687. Four prognostic circulating miRNAs associated with proliferation and limitless replicative potential, including miR-101-3p, miR-122-5p, miR-21-5p and miR-331-3p, were reported up-regulated in HCC patients38566177.…”

“…In addition, the low expression of miR-125a-5p, miR-128-3p, miR-137, miR-185-5p, miR-188-5p, miR-26a-5p, miR-503-5p and miR-744-5p were detected in HCC tissues compared with their non-tumor livers and were involved in the multi-step processes35363773747576. There were six circulating prognostic biomarker miRNAs reported to be associated with tissue invasion and metastasis, including miR-122-5p, miR-17-5p, miR-182-5p, miR-21-5p, miR-24-3p and miR-331-3p, all of them were up-regulated in the group with low survival rate5661637778. Meanwhile, the serum miR-150-5p was shown highly expressed in HCC patients after surgical operation and then low expressed after tumor relapsed60.…”

“…Up-regulated expression of miR-21-5p has been observed to be associated with genome instability and mutation, and it was a novel prognostic biomarker for HCC68. Patients with high serum concentrations of miR-1-3p and miR-122-5p showed a long overall survival time and these miRNAs could be used to assess the HCC staging scores7791.…”

“…On the other hand, miR-101-3p, miR-122-5p, miR-125b-5p, miR-130a-3p, miR-146a-5p, miR-214-3p and miR-99a-5p were considered as tumor suppressors in HCC and served as prognostic indicators for HCC3899100101102103104. Serum miR-1-3p, miR-101-3p, miR-122-5p, miR-150-5p, miR-203a-3p and miR-30c-5p were associated with suppressing tumorigenicity and new independent parameters of overall survival in HCC3849607791105.…”

High circulating microRNA-122 expression is a poor prognostic marker in patients with hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma who undergo radiofrequency ablation

“…For example, Xu et al [32] and Koberle et al [33] reported that a high serum miR-122 level was associated with longer OS times in patients with HCC. However, the results of these studies are not consistent with our results.…”