The Profile of microRNA Expression in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma

Abstract

Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) is a heterogeneous group of cancers characterized by different pathogenesis and prognosis. The main methods for treating NHL are chemotherapy, immunochemotherapy, and radiation therapy; however, most of these cancers are known to be chemoresistant or return rapidly after the short chemotherapy-induced remission. Therefore, searching for alternative cytoreductive therapy options is quite relevant today. Aberrant microRNA (miRNA) expression is one of the mechanisms responsible for the emergence and progression of lymphoid malignancies. This study was aimed at identifying the miRNA expression profile in diagnostic biopsy specimens harvested from the lymph nodes affected by diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and identifying miRNA markers, which can potentially be used to design a novel type of ta-rgeted anticancer drugs that would allow one to achieve maximum therapy personalization and increase its efficacy. The key study objects were histological specimens harvested from the lymph nodes by excisional d-iagnostic biopsy and treated using the conventional histomorphological formalin fixation methods. The study group consisted of patients with DLBCL (n = 52). The biopsy specimens harvested from patients with reactive lymphadenopathy (RL) (n = 40) constituted the control group. The miR-150 expression level was reduced over 12-fold (p = 3.6 × 10‒15) compared to that in the tissues of non-cancerous nodular masses. B-ioinformatic analysis revealed that miR-150 is involved in regulation of hematopoiesis and lymphopoiesis. The findings obtained in this study allow considering miR-150 a promising therapeutic target having a great potential for clinical applications.