title: Correlation between expression of miR-155 in colon cancer and serum carcinoembryonic antigen level and its contribution to recurrence and metastasis forecast.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyze the correlation between expression of miR-155 in colon cancer tissue and serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels, and then explore its contribution to forecasting recurrence and metastasis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty-four pairs of colon cancer specimens and their corresponding non-tumor adjacent tissues were collected and analyzed between March 2009 and December 2011 in Xiangyang Central Hospital, Xiangyang, Hubei, China. The expression of miR-155 in both tissues was tested using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), the preoperative serum CEA level was assessed, and the postoperative serum CEA level was also assessed bimonthly during the follow-up period of 2 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The expression of miR-155 in colon cancer tissue was significantly higher than that in normal tissues (p<0.05), it had an obvious positive correlation with the preoperative serum CEA levels (p<0.01), and a negative correlation with time of duration since the serum CEA level increased again postoperatively (p<0.01). The expression of miR-155 in the recurrence and metastasis group was significantly higher (6.06+/-3.73 times) than that in the non-recurrence and non-metastasis group (p<0.05). An increase in the postoperative serum CEA levels was significantly correlated with recurrence and metastasis of the tumor postoperatively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The expression of miR-155 is up-regulated in colon cancer tissue. A combination of miR-155 level assay in colon cancer tissue and the serum CEA level both pre- and postoperatively can afford more accurate information for diagnosis and prognosis, especially for predicting recurrence and metastasis postoperatively.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Affiliated Xiangyang Central Hospital of Hubei University of Arts and Science, Xiangyang, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Cao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hongliang
authors.forename: Huang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shaojun
authors.forename: Liu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Aihua
authors.forename: Jiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hua
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local
chemical_list: D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen; C524942:MIRN155 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs