Circulating miR-125b is a novel biomarker for screening non-small-cell lung cancer and predicts poor prognosis.
OBJECTIVE
MicroRNAs are small, non-coding RNAs that are critical regulators of various diseases including cancer, and may represent a novel class of cancer biomarkers. Recent reports have highlighted the oncogenic aspects of miR-125b. However, the level and clinical relevance of circulating miR-125b transcripts in human serum of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients are unclear. The purpose of this study was to identify circulating miR-125b transcripts in human serum for use as a biomarker for stratification and prediction of prognosis in NSCLC.


METHODS
We analyzed serum levels of miR-125b in 193 patients with different stages of NSCLC. Blood samples were collected before surgery and therapy. Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction of circulating miR-125b transcripts was performed directly in serum to improve the efficiency of miRNA assessment. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of serum miR-125b.


RESULTS
We found that serum miR-125b was consistently expressed in the non-tumor group and was significantly associated with NSCLC stage. miR-125b expression was capable of separating NSCLC patients from control groups with an area under the curve of 0.786. Furthermore, patients with high miR-125b expression displayed a significantly poorer prognosis compared with patients with low expression (p < 0.0001). Multivariate analysis indicated that high miR-125b expression was an independent prognostic factor for survival.


CONCLUSIONS
We propose that serum miR-125b may represent a novel biomarker in NSCLC patients and that high miR-125b expression is an independent prognostic factor for survival.
Department of Respiration Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China.
Ma
M
Yuxia
Tian
T
Zhennan
Zhang
Z
Wei
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics*; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011379:Prognosis; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C531888:MIRN125 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs