title: Serum microRNA-221 functions as a potential diagnostic and prognostic marker for patients with osteosarcoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Upregulation of microRNA-221 (miR-221) has been reported to induce the malignant phenotype of human osteosarcoma, suggesting its potential as a therapeutic target for this malignancy. However, the role of miR-221 in diagnosis and prognosis of osteosarcoma has been well less elaborated. Our aim was to investigate the clinicopathological, diagnostic, and prognostic value of miR-221 in human osteosarcoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  Expression levels of miR-221 in tumor tissues and patients' sera obtained from 108 cases of primary osteosarcomas were detected by quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with normal controls, the expression levels of miR-221 in osteosarcoma tissues and patients' sera were both dramatically upregulated (both P=0.001). Then, receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis showed that serum miR-221 level could efficiently distinguish osteosarcoma patients from healthy controls (Area Under ROC Curve, AUC=0.844). Additionally, the serum level of miR-221 in osteosarcoma patients with positive distance metastasis (P=0.01) and advanced clinical stage (P=0.006) was significantly higher than those without distance metastasis and with early clinical stage. Moreover, we found that high serum miR-221 level was correlated with shorter recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) than low level (both P=0.001). Multivariate survival analysis confirmed that serum miR-221 level was an independent prognostic factor influencing the survival of patients with osteosarcoma.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings reveal that miR-221 may play a crucial role in the occurrence and the progression of human osteosarcoma. More importantly, miR-221 may function as a promising marker for screening individuals with osteosarcoma and for identifying individuals with poor prognostic potentials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sport Medicine, Xi'an Hong Hui Hospital, Xi'an 710054, China.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Children's Hospital of Xi'an, Xi'an 710003, China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Sport Medicine, Xi'an Hong Hui Hospital, Xi'an 710054, China.
authors.forename: Xian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Sport Medicine, Xi'an Hong Hui Hospital, Xi'an 710054, China.
authors.forename: Mingyu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Xi'an Hong Hui Hospital, Xi'an 710054, China.
authors.forename: Hongliang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Xi'an Hong Hui Hospital, Xi'an 710054, China.
authors.forename: Shaobo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Xi'an Hong Hui Hospital, Xi'an 710054, China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Xi'an Hong Hui Hospital, Xi'an 710054, China. Electronic address: 273310417@qq.com.
authors.forename: Xiaoke
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D019540:Area Under Curve; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics*; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012516:Osteosarcoma / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000628:therapy; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012372:ROC Curve; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D015854:Up-Regulation; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D035683:MicroRNAs; C525709:MIR221, human
keywords: Clinicopathological characteristics; Diagnosis; MicroRNA-221; Osteosarcoma; Prognosis