title: Prognostic value of miR-26a and HMGA1 in urothelial bladder cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  MicroRNA-26a (miR-26a) functions as a tumor suppressor by regulating its direct target gene high mobility group AT-hook 1 (HMGA1). This study was aimed to investigate the associations of differential expression of miR-26a and HMGA1 with tumor progression and prognosis in urothelial bladder cancer (UBC) patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and twenty-six UBC patients were selected and quantitative real-time PCR was performed to detect the expression of miR-26a and HMGA1 mRNA in the respective tumors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our data showed the decreased expression of miR-26a and the increased expression of HMGA1 mRNA in UBC tissues compared with corresponding non-cancerous tissues (both P<0.001). Then, the expression levels of miR-26a in UBC tissues were negatively correlated with those of HMGA1 mRNA significantly (r=-0.72, P<0.001). In addition, UBC patients with combined miR-26a downregulation and HMGA1 upregulation (miR-26a-low/HMGA1-high) more frequently had advanced pathological stage (P<0.001) and high tumor grade (P<0.001). Moreover, miR-26a-low/HMGA1-high expression was associated with a significantly shortest disease-free survival (P<0.001) and overall survival (P<0.001) of all miR-26a/HMGA1 combined expression groups. Furthermore, multivariate analysis indicated that miR-26a/HMGA1 expression was an independent prognostic factor for both disease-free survival and overall survival (both P=0.001) in UBC patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Interaction between miR-26a and its target gene HMGA1 may contribute to the malignant progression of human UBC. Tumors with miR-26a downregulation in combination with high expression of HMGA1 showed a worse prognosis than the other tumors. Combined detection of their expression might be particularly helpful for surveillance of disease progression and treatment stratification.
authors.affiliation: Urological Research Institute of PLA, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China.
authors.forename: Rongkai
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Urological Research Institute of PLA, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China.
authors.forename: Wenhao
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Urological Research Institute of PLA, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhi
authors.affiliation: Urological Research Institute of PLA, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China. Electronic address: zhouzsxn@163.com.
authors.forename: Zhansong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D025741:HMGA1a Protein / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D025741:HMGA1a Protein; D035683:MicroRNAs; C528163:MIRN26 microRNA, human
keywords: High mobility group AT-hook 1; MicroRNA-26a; Prognosis; Tumor progression; Urothelial bladder cancer