title: Association of serum microRNA expression in hepatocellular carcinomas treated with transarterial chemoembolization and patient survival.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most deadly tumors. Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is effective for unresectable HCC. In recent years, miRNAs have been proposed as novel diagnostic and prognostic tools for HCC. This study aimed to identify whether microRNAs (miRNAs) can serve as biomarkers to reliably predict outcome before HCC patients are treated with TACE.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eleven miRNAs (miR-, miR-19a, miR-101-3p, miR-199a-5p, miR-200a, miR-21, miR-214, miR-221, miR-222, miR-223 and miR-, -5p) were quantified by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) in 136 HCC patients' serum before they received TACE therapy. Univariate and multivariate analysis were used to identify the prognostic value of clinical parameters and miRNAs. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was used to evaluate the prediction potency.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The levels of some miRNAs were dramatically associated with clinicopathologic features regarding Child-Puge class, AFP, tumor size and satellite nodules. Univariate analysis revealed that miR-200a, miR-21, miR-122 and miR-224-5p were significantly associated with patients' survival. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that AFP, satellite nodules and miR-200a were the independent prognostic factors associated with survival in this cohort (p = 0.000, 0.001, 0.000, respectively). The probability of the prognostic accuracy of miR-200a was 81.64% (74.47% specificity and 88.76% sensitivity), which was higher than the classifier established by combination of AFP and satellite nodules (76.87% probability, 70.21% specificity and 69.66% sensitivity). Furthermore, the combination of AFP, satellite nodules and miR-200a demonstrated as a classifier for HCC prognosis, yielding a ROC curve area of 88.19% (93.62% specificity and 68.54% sensitivity).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study indicated that serum miR-200a may prognosticate disease outcome in HCC patients with TACE therapy. Therefore, miR-200a can potentially guide individualized treatment for HCC patients with a high risk of TACE treatment failures.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cell and Molecular Biology & State Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Cancer Institute & Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, PR China.
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Interventional Surgical Oncology, Cancer Hospital of Shandong Province, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Jibing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Abdominal Surgery, Cancer Institute & Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, PR China.
authors.forename: Liming
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Interventional Surgical Oncology, Cancer Hospital of Shandong Province, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Huiyong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Clinical Laboratory, Cancer Hospital of Shandong Province, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Changchun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cell and Molecular Biology & State Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Cancer Institute & Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, PR China.
authors.forename: Hongxia
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cell and Molecular Biology & State Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Cancer Institute & Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, PR China.
authors.forename: Ningzhi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Interventional Surgical Oncology, Cancer Hospital of Shandong Province, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Yinfa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xie
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000628:therapy*; D016461:Chemoembolization, Therapeutic; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012372:ROC Curve
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D035683:MicroRNAs