Detection of micro RNA in cervical cancer tissue and its clinical significance

Abstract

Objective To investigate the expression level of miR-21, miR-146a and miR-224 and their clinical significances in cervical cancer. Methods miR-21, miR-146a and miR-224 were extracted from the normal cervical tissues and cervical cancer tissues, and their expression levels were quantified by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis. t test was used to analyze the expression difference of the two tissues and examine the associations between miR expression and the clinicopathological characters. The overall survival was analyzed by log-rank test, and survival curves were plotted according to Kaplan-Meier. Results miR-21 expression levels of cervical cancer tissues and normal cervical tissues were 11.02±4.83 and 10.36±4.79, and miR-146a expression levels were 24.68±7.92 and 22.43±7.25, and there was no significant difference for both miR-21 and miR-146a expression between groups(P>0.05). miR-224 expression levels were 5.78±1.03 and 3.35±0.93 in cervical cancer tissues and normal cervical tissues, and the difference had statistical significance(P<0.001). For cervical cancer tissues, the miR-224 levels were significantly higher in tumors less differentiated, in advanced FIGO stage and with lymph nodes metastasis(P<0.05). miR-224 levels showed obvious correlation with survival time and the median survival time was shorter in patients with higher expression level of miR-224(P<0.05). COX multivariate analysis showed miR-224 expression level was an independent factor in patients' survival and prognosis(P<0.05). Conclusion miR-224 is independent predictor for aggressive progression and poor prognosis in cervical cancer, and it might serve as a biomarker for predicting clinical outcome of cervical cancer patients. Key words: Cervical cancer; miR-224; Prognosis