title: Reduced miRNA-218 expression in pancreatic cancer patients as a predictor of poor prognosis.
abstract: microRNA-218 (miR-218) is a vertebrate-specific miRNA that plays a crucial role in tumorigenesis and tumor progression. This study analyzed the miR-218 expression level and clinical significance in pancreatic cancer. One hundred and seven pairs of pancreatic cancer and adjacent normal tissues were analyzed by quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. The correlation between miR-218 expression and clinicopathological characters was determined by the two-sample Student t-test. The survival correlations were analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards model. The relative expression of miR-218 in pancreatic cancer tissues (2.63 ± 1.59) was significantly lower than that in matched noncancerous pancreatic tissues (6.52 ± 2.50, P < 0.001). The low expression of miR-218 in the pancreatic cancer tissues were strongly correlated with the TNM classification (P = 0.02), distant metastasis (P = 0.001), and tumor differentiation (P = 0.003). The low level of miR-218 expression was significantly correlated with the shorter overall survival time of pancreatic cancer patients (5-year overall survival rate: 7.5 vs 34.9%; log-rank test: P < 0.001). Multivariate analyses confirmed that a low level of miR-218 expression was an independent predictor of poor prognosis in pancreatic cancer patients (Hazard ratio: 7.24; 95% confidence interval: 2.01-18.28; P = 0.007). Our findings suggested a significant downregulation in the expression of miR-218; this might have considerable potential value in the prognosis for pancreatic cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal and Pancreatic Surgery, The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
authors.forename: B-S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal and Pancreatic Surgery, The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal and Pancreatic Surgery, The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
authors.forename: W-L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D047368:Tumor Burden
chemical_list: C547471:MIRN218 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs