title: Reduction of Plasma MicroRNA-21 is Associated with Chemotherapeutic Response in Patients with Non-small Cell Lung Cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine plasma microRNA-21 (miR-21) level in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and its potential correlation with chemotherapeutic response.
  
  
  METHODS
  77 NSCLC patients and 36 age and sex-matched healthy controls were included. Plasma miR-21 concentration was examined using a quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assay (qRT-PCR). Potential correlation between plasma mir-21 concentrations with chemotherapeutic responses was analyzed in 35 patients with advanced NSCLC (stages IIIB and IV).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Plasma miR-21 was significantly higher in NSCLC patients relative to the healthy controls (P<0.0001). As a biomarker, plasma mir-21 had a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve area of 0.729 with 61.04% sensitivity and 83.33% specificity. Chemotherapeutic response in the 35 patients with advanced NSCLC (stages IIIB and IV) included partial response (PR) (n=11), stable disease and progression disease (SD+PD) (n=24). The overall response rate (CR+PR) was 31.4%. Plasma miR-21 in patients who achieved PR was significantly lower than those who did not respond (SD+PD) (P=0.0487), and comparable to that of the healthy controls (P=0.2744).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Plasma miR-21 is a good biomarker for NSCLC, and could be used to predict responses to chemotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Lian-Ke
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Cheng-Jun
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Yi-Qian
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Yong-Qian
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Shu
keywords: Biomarker; Chemotherapeutic response; NSCLC; Plasma; miR-21