Identification of microRNA expression in sentinel lymph nodes from patients with breast cancer via RNA sequencing for diagnostic accuracy

Abstract

Background Sentinel lymph node (SLN) property assessment (with or without metastasis) is important when deciding the surgery for breast cancer; however, the current diagnosis of SLN metastasis remains to be studied. microRNAs (miRNAs) have been confirmed previously as a molecular marker for the diagnosis, development and prognosis of tumors. However, the detailed role of miRNAs in the diagnosis of SLN metastasis has not been reported. Methods The present study aimed to explore the potential use of miRNAs in the diagnosis of SLN using RNA sequencing (RNA‐seq) and a quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR) to compare the expression profiles of miRNAs in patients with breast cancer with or without SLN metastasis. Results The RNA‐seq results revealed that 1993 miRNAs were differentially expressed in patients with breast cancer with SLN metastasis. Among these miRNAs, 1960 were up‐regulated and 33 were down‐regulated. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analyses revealed that these differentially expressed miRNAs were associated with tumor growth and metastasis and were also predicted to regulate a series of tumorigenesis and metastasis genes. In particular, the most differentially expressed miRNAs were validated by qRT‐PCR, such that miR‐200a‐3p and miR‐96‐5p were up‐regulated and miR‐1‐3p and miR‐486‐3p were down‐regulated in patients with breast cancer with SLN metastasis. Conclusions The findings of the present study suggest that there is an association of miRNAs with SLN metastasis and also that miRNAs function as biomarkers with respect to the choice of therapy and disease prognosis.

Exosomes Derived from Tumor Cells Initiate Breast Cancer Cell Metastasis and Chemoresistance through a MALAT1-Dependent Mechanism

“…The latter does not come as a surprise as there is much evidence indicating the direct binding of MALAT1 to miR-1-3p, wherein MALAT1 could negatively regulate the expression of miR-1-3p in esophagus cancer cells [ 29 ]. In addition, the study carried out by Sun et al evidenced downregulation of miR-1-3p in BC patients with sentinel lymph node metastasis, which is in accordance with our findings [ 30 ]. High expression of miR-1-3p was further shown to confer an inhibitory effect on BC cell viability, invasion, and migration, while simultaneously suppressing tumor formation and metastasis [ 13 ].…”

Overexpression of microRNA‑96 is associated with poor prognosis and promotes proliferation, migration and invasion in cholangiocarcinoma cells via MTSS1

“…Taken together, the results of the present study suggested that miR-96 may be an oncogene associated with CCA tumor development. Previous studies have also indicated that miR-96 functions as an oncogene in various types of cancer, including breast and non-small cell lung cancer, as well as cervical carcinoma (30)(31)(32). For instance, the expression of miR-96 is upregulated in human cervical carcinoma cells and may promote the proliferation and tumorigenicity of cervical cells by silencing PTPN9 (32).…”

Identification of lymph node metastasis-related microRNAs in breast cancer using bioinformatics analysis

“…[ 19 ] Besides, it may play a tumor suppressor role by directly regulating ADAM9 and MMP7 in breast cancer. [ 20 ] However, the regulation mechanism of some miRNAs in the tumor has not been reported yet, so more researches need to be conducted in the future, especially in breast cancer.…”