Significance of miR-145 expression in peripheral blood in short-term efficacy evaluation of radiotherapy for esophageal carcinoma

Abstract

Objective To investigate the relationship between the expression level of microRNA-145 (miR-145) in peripheral blood and clinicopathological characteristics of esophageal cancer patients and eva-luate its significance in short-term efficacy of radiotherapy. Methods A total of 52 patients with esophageal cancer diagnosed in Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University were collected, and all of the patients received radiotherapy alone. The relative expression level of miR-145 in peripheral blood was detected by using the method of reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) before radiotherapy. The correlations between the expression of miR-145 and pathological characteristics as well as short-term efficacy of radiotherapy were analyzed. Results In the 52 patients, the relative expression of miR-145 [M(QR)] in peripheral blood of clinical stage Ⅰ-Ⅱ was 3.14 (1.44), higher than that of stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ [1.71 (0.48)], and the difference was statistically significant (Z=-3.002, P=0.003). The expression level of miR-145 was not related with the age (Z=-0.403, P=0.687), gender (Z=-1.179, P=0.238) and history of drinking (Z=-0.389, P=0.697). The expression levels of miR-145 in complete response (CR), partial response (PR) and no change (NC) groups were 3.27 (1.64), 1.83 (1.26) and 1.40 (2.51), respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (H=6.567, P=0.038). Conclusion The expression level of miR-145 in peri-pheral blood is significantly correlated with the clinical stage of esophageal cancer. Its expression level is positively correlated with the short-term efficacy of esophageal cancer radiotherapy. High expression of miR-145 shows a better short-term efficacy of radiotherapy. Key words: Esophageal neoplasms; Radiotherapy; MicroRNAs; Prognosis