title: Identification of miR-140-3p as a marker associated with poor prognosis in spinal chordoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the expression profile of miR-140-3p in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues of spinal chordoma, and its correlation with the prognosis of spinal chordoma patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Dysregulated miRNAs in FFPE tissues of spinal chordoma were identified by microarray analysis. MiR-140-3p expression in surgically removed spinal chordoma tissues of 42 spinal chordoma patients (27 males and 15 females, aged 29-76 years) and corresponding nucleus pulposus tissues of 14 patients with disc herniation as the healthy control group (8 males and 6 females, aged 24-73 years) was measured by real-time quantitative RT-PCR assay. The association of miR-140-3p expression with clinicopathologic characteristics of spinal chordoma patients was analyzed. Additionally, we investigated the prognostic significance of miR-140-3p with the use of Kaplan-Meier methods and a Cox proportional hazard model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The expression of miR-140-3p was significantly higher in chordoma tissues than nucleus pulposus tissues (t = 3.530, P = 0.001). The expression of miR-140-3p positively correlated with surrounding muscle invasion. The Kapan-Meier survival analysis showed that the patients with high miR-140-3p expression had a significantly worse recurrence-free survival than those with a low expression (χ (2) = 31.270, P = 0.000, log-rank test). In addition, univariate and multivariate analyses for recurrence-free survival showed that miR-140-3p expression was an independent prognostic factor for patients with spinal chordoma (HR = 1.361, 95% CI: 1.135-1.633, P = 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Over-expression of miR-140-3p is correlated with recurrence and tumor invasion, suggesting that miR-140-3p could be a new predictor for recurrence and prognosis in patients with spinal chordoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Spine Surgery, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University No. 139, Middle of Renmin Road, Changsha 410011, Hunan, China.
authors.forename: Ming-Xiang
authors.initials: MX
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Central South University Changsha 410078, Hunan, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Spine Surgery, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University No. 139, Middle of Renmin Road, Changsha 410011, Hunan, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Bin
authors.initials: XB
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Spine Surgery, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University No. 139, Middle of Renmin Road, Changsha 410011, Hunan, China.
authors.forename: Guo-Hua
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: Department of Spine Surgery, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University No. 139, Middle of Renmin Road, Changsha 410011, Hunan, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Spine Surgery, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University No. 139, Middle of Renmin Road, Changsha 410011, Hunan, China.
authors.forename: You-Wen
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Deng
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002817:Chordoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013125:Spinal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D035683:MicroRNAs; C544302:Mirn140 microRNA, human
keywords: MicroRNA; case-control study; chordoma; prognosis; recurrence; spine