title: Downregulation of microRNA-124 is an independent prognostic factor in patients with colorectal cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Recently, microRNA-124 (miR-124) has been demonstrated as a potential tumor suppressor in several types of cancers. However, the role of miR-124 in colorectal cancer remains unclear. This study was aimed at investigating the clinicopathological significance of miR-124 expression in colorectal cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Quantitative real-time PCR was used to analyze miR-124 expression in 96 colorectal cancers and individual-matched normal mucosa samples. The expression of miR-124 was assessed for associations with clinicopathological characteristics using chi-square test. The survival curves were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. The influence of each variable on survival was examined by the Cox multivariate regression analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The miR-124 expression was significantly downregulated in colorectal cancer compared to normal mucosa (P = 0.001). In colorectal cancer, miR-124 decreased expression correlated significantly with the grade of differentiation (P = 0.021). Univariate survival analysis showed that the downregulated miR-124 was significantly correlated with worse prognosis, both in terms of overall survival (P = 0.017) and disease-free survival (DFS) (P = 0.014). Further, the downregulated miR-124 was demonstrated as a prognostic factor for overall survival (hazard ratio, HR = 4.634; 95 % confidence interval, CI, 1.731-12.404; P = 0.002) and DFS (HR = 4.533, 95 % CI 1.733-11.856, P = 0.002), independently of gender, age, location, maximum tumor size, depth of invasion, differentiation, and TNM stage.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  MiR-124 may play a certain role in the development of colorectal cancer. The downregulation expression of miR-124 is an independent prognostic factor in patients with colorectal cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Institute of Digestive Surgery and National Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, 37 Guo Xue Xiang, Chengdu, 610041, China.
authors.forename: Mo-Jin
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Cun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yong-Yang
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Lie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Zong-Guang
authors.initials: ZG
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Xiao-Feng
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D015536:Down-Regulation / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012984:Software; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: C509207:MIRN124 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs