title: MiR-21/miR-375 ratio is an independent prognostic factor in patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.
abstract: We sought to identify microRNAs that exhibit altered expression in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and to determine whether microRNA expression is predictive of disease. This study was divided into three steps: (1) The expression of six miRNAs, such as up-regulated miR-223, miR-142-3p, miR-21, miR-16, miR-23a and down-regulated miR-375, was evaluated using total RNA isolated from freshly-frozen primary tumors and non-cancerous laryngeal squamous epithelial tissues and analyzed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). (2) We also investigated the mRNA expression levels of processing elements (RNASEN, DGCR8, and DICER1) that participate in miRNA-biogenesis pathway. (3) We analyzed the relationships between the expression levels of these miRNAs and the clinicopathologic parameters of laryngeal SCC patients. In this study, we found that: (1) A marked difference in the microRNA expression pattern was observed between tumors and non-cancerous tissue. With regard to miRNA-processing elements, the expression level of RNASEN was higher in laryngeal SCC than in normal epithelium (P<0.01). (2) The miR-21/miR-375 expression ratio was highly sensitive and specific for disease prediction. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed a significant association between high expression of miR-21/miR-375 in cancerous tissue and a worse prognosis (p=0.032). (3) Furthermore, the expression ratio of miR-21/mir-375 in patients with stage (III-IV) tumors was significantly higher than that in those with stage (I-II) tumors (p=0.006). These data suggest that the pattern of microRNA expression in primary laryngeal SCC tissues is exhibiting strong predictive potential.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Gongli Hospital Pudong New Area, Miaopu Road 219, Shanghai 200135, China.
authors.forename: An
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Gerontology, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine Kongjiang Road 1665, Shanghai 200092, China.
authors.forename: Jing-Juan
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Gongli Hospital Pudong New Area, Miaopu Road 219, Shanghai 200135, China.
authors.forename: Wei-Hua
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine Pudong New Area, Dongfang Road 1630, Shanghai 200127, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Jie
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine Pudong New Area, Dongfang Road 1630, Shanghai 200127, China.
authors.forename: Ji-Ping
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Joint Molecular Rheumatology Laboratory of the Institute of Health Sciences and Shanghai Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, and Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences Shandong (M) Road 145, Shanghai 200001, China.
authors.forename: Yuan-Jia
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Joint Molecular Rheumatology Laboratory of the Institute of Health Sciences and Shanghai Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, and Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences Shandong (M) Road 145, Shanghai 200001, China.
authors.forename: Xin-Fang
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Joint Molecular Rheumatology Laboratory of the Institute of Health Sciences and Shanghai Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, and Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences Shandong (M) Road 145, Shanghai 200001, China.
authors.forename: Hui-Juan
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Huashan Hospital, Shanghai Fudan University School of Medicine Wurumuqi Road 12, Shanghai 200040, China.
authors.forename: Guang-Bin
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Gerontology, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine Kongjiang Road 1665, Shanghai 200092, China.
authors.forename: Rui-Lin
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Gerontology, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine Kongjiang Road 1665, Shanghai 200092, China.
authors.forename: Jun-Li
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Duan
keywords: biomarker; laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma; microRNA; microarray; prognosis