title: Upregulation of microRNA-23a/b promotes tumor progression and confers poor prognosis in patients with gastric cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the clinical significance of microRNA (miR)-23a and miR-23b expression in human gastric cancer (GC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Quantitative RT-PCR was performed to detect the expression changes of miR-23a and miR-23b in 160 human GC tissues and paired normal mucosa. The associations between miR-23a and miR-23b expression, and the selected clinicopathological characteristics and patients' prognosis were also evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  MiR-23a (GC vs. Normal: 3.98 ± 1.23 vs. 2.29 ± 1.12, P < 0.001) and miR-23b (GC vs. Normal: 3.70 ± 1.24 vs. 1.58 ± 1.18, P < 0.001) expression were both increased dramatically when compared with paired normal mucosa. Notably, the expression levels of miR-23a in GC tissues were positively correlated with those of miR-23b (Spearman correlation coefficient r = 0.77, P < 0.001). Then, the coexpression of miR-23a and miR-23b (miR-23a-high/miR-23b-high) in GC tissues was significantly associated with the advanced TNM stage (P < 0.001), the presence of lymph node metastasis (P = 0.008) and the great depth of invasion (P = 0.02). Furthermore, both univariate and multivariate analyses showed that miR-23a/miR-23b co-expression was an independent predictor for unfavorable overall survival.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that the dysregulation of miR-23a and miR-23b may be implicated in the progression of human GC. Combined expression of miR-23a and miR-23b appears to be a valuable marker for prognosis of this disease.
authors: Department of Gastroenterology, Huai'an First People's Hospital, Nanjing Medical University 6 Beijing Road West, Huai'an 223300, Jiangsu, P. R. China.
authors: Gang
authors: G
authors: Ma
authors: Department of Gastroenterology, Huai'an First People's Hospital, Nanjing Medical University 6 Beijing Road West, Huai'an 223300, Jiangsu, P. R. China.
authors: Weijie
authors: W
authors: Dai
authors: Department of Internal Medicine, Lianshui Third People's Hospital 12 Gaogouzhen 307 Road South, Lianshui 223411, Jiangsu, P. R. China.
authors: Aiyu
authors: A
authors: Sang
authors: Department of Gastroenterology, Huai'an First People's Hospital, Nanjing Medical University 6 Beijing Road West, Huai'an 223300, Jiangsu, P. R. China.
authors: Xiaozhong
authors: X
authors: Yang
authors: Department of Gastroenterology, Huai'an First People's Hospital, Nanjing Medical University 6 Beijing Road West, Huai'an 223300, Jiangsu, P. R. China.
authors: Chengcheng
authors: C
authors: Gao
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C552430:MIRN23a microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: Gastric cancer; clinicopathological feature; microRNA-23a; microRNA-23b; overall survival