Abstract
BackgroundOne-third of cervical cancer patients are still diagnosed at advanced stages. The five-year survival rate is decreased in about 50% of advanced stage cervical cancer patients worldwide, and the clinical outcomes are remarkably varied and difficult to predict. One of the miRNAs known to be associated with cancer tumorigenesis is miR-944. However, the prognostic value of miR-944 in cervical cancer has not been fully investigated. The aim of this study was to analyze clinical significance and prognostic value of miR-944 in cervical cancer.MethodsThe expression levels of miR-944 were detected using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction in five types of cervical cancer cell lines and 116 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) cervical tissues. The association between the expression levels of miR-944 and prognostic value was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards model.ResultsThe expression levels of miR-944 in cervical cancer tissues were significantly higher compared with those in normal tissues (P < 0.0001). Moreover, the expression levels of miR-944 in cervical cancer cell lines and FFPE tissues with human papillomavirus (HPV) infection were significantly higher compared to those without HPV infection (P < 0.01 and P = 0.02). High miR-944 expression was also markedly associated with bulky tumor size (P = 0.026), advanced International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage (P = 0.042), and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.030). In particular, high miR-944 expression group showed shorter overall survival than the low miR-944 expression group in the advanced FIGO stage (84.4% vs. 44.4%, HR = 4.0, and P = 0.01).ConclusionsThese results suggest that miR-944 may be used as a novel biomarker for improving prognosis and as a potential therapeutic target.
Highlights
IntroductionThe five-year survival rate is decreased in about 50% of advanced stage cervical cancer patients worldwide, and the clinical outcomes are remarkably varied and difficult to predict
One-third of cervical cancer patients are still diagnosed at advanced stages
The results showed that the expression levels of miR-944 were significantly higher in cervical cancer tissues than those in matched non-cancerous cervical tissues (n = 6, P = 0.031; Fig. 1a)
Summary
The five-year survival rate is decreased in about 50% of advanced stage cervical cancer patients worldwide, and the clinical outcomes are remarkably varied and difficult to predict. The standard treatment guideline for patients with advanced FIGO stage IIB and more than stage IIB is radiotherapy combined with platinum-based chemotherapy [6]. These patients have a higher recurrence rate and a worse survival rate in the first 5 years [5]. Numerous studies have shown that dysregulation of miRNAs plays an essential role in cell proliferation, cell cycle regulation, differentiation, and apoptosis and is related to various tumors such as colon, gastric, breast, lung, and cervical cancers [9,10,11,12,13]
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