Abstract
Studies have demonstrated that miRNA-378 is expressed in various malignant tumors. In the present study, we aimed to explore the expression of serum miRNA-378 and its clinical significance in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients. A total of 75 RCC patients, 63 renal cysts (RC) patients and 75 healthy controls were selected. The miRNA-378 level in RCC and RC groups was significantly higher than in healthy control group, with RCC group having the highest level. The miRNA-378 levels were significantly decreased within the same group after surgery. When compared with healthy controls, RC group had higher levels but not significantly (p > 0.05) while levels in RCC group were significantly higher (p < 0.05). miRNA-378 expression was correlated with clinical stage and differentiation degree, but not correlated with patient's age, gender, surgical strategy and tumor diameter. The AUC of miRNA-378 was 0.896, 95% confidence interval was 0.847 to 0.945, and AUC hypothesis testing was statistically significant (p < 0.001, RCC vs healthy control). miRNA-378 shows potential in the diagnosis and prediction of postoperative curative effect of renal cell carcinoma, but further studies with lager samples are needed.
Highlights
Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most common space-occupying lesion in adult kidney
Discussion miRNA genes account for about 1% of the whole genome, and they act via complementary pairing in the 3’UCR of target RNAs. miRNA binding results in the degradation of these mRNA and/or the inhibition of translation. miRNAs and their target mRNA molecules constitute a complex regulatory network, including the biological processes of cell proliferation, apoptosis, cell differentiation, development, stress response and other biological activity (Romero-Cordoba et al, 2014)
Redova et al (2012) used gene chips to screen 15 patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and 12 healthy controls, and they identified the expression levels of 667 miRNAs and verified candidate miRNAs by RT-qPCR. They concluded that miRNA-378 is highly expressed in RCC and it might serve as a biomarker for early diagnosis (Redova et al, 2012)
Summary
Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most common space-occupying lesion in adult kidney. RCC accounts for about 3% of all tumors, and the mortality rate reaches 40% (Franceschi and Wild, 2013; Tan et al, 2015). There is no typical clinical symptom at the early stages and most RCCs are diagnosed at late stages, with symptoms including intermittent hematuria, low back pain, abdominal mass, large tumor area and even with distant metastasis (Golan and Eggener, 2015). RCC is not sensitive to radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and its prognosis is unfavorable (Golan and Eggener, 2015). Finding early tumor markers and evaluating their clinical curative effect on RCC have become extremely urgent and important
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