Correlation analysis on the expression levels of microRNA‑23a and microRNA‑23b and the incidence and prognosis of ovarian cancer

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the expression levels of microRNA (miR)-23a and miR-23b in the tumor tissues of patients with ovarian cancer. The study also explored the correlation of miR-23a and miR-23b expression levels in the tumor tissues with the clinic-pathological parameters and prognosis of the patients. Specimens of frozen tumor tissues and normal tissues adjacent to the tumor were collected from 50 patients with ovarian cancer. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction was adopted to detect the expression levels of miR-23a and miR-23b in tumor tissues. Furthermore, normal tissues adjacent to the tumor were utilized as the control for the experiments and Pearson method was used to analyze the correlation between miR-23a and miR-23b expression levels in tumor tissues. The correlation of miR-23a and miR-23 expression in tumor tissues and the prognosis of the patients with ovarian cancer was analyzed in combination with clinical data. The expression of miR-23a in the tissues of ovarian cancer was significantly higher in comparison with normal adjacent tissues. However, the expression of miR-23b in the tissues of ovarian cancer was significantly lower when compared with adjacent normal tissues. Notably, the expression of miR-23a was negatively correlated with that of miR-23b in tumor tissues of ovarian cancer. The high expression of miR-23a and the low expression of miR-23b in tumor tissues of the patients was correlated with the degree of tumor differentiation, metastasis of lymph nodes and clinical staging. The five-year overall survival rate of the patients was 36% (18/50). Univariate survival analysis indicated that miR-23a and miR-23b were the factors influencing the overall survival rate of ovarian cancer. The present findings suggest that high expression of miR-23a and the low expression of miR-23b are closely correlated with the occurrence and development of ovarian cancer. The abnormal expression of the miR-23a and miR-23b could be utilized as potential prognostic molecular markers of ovarian cancer.