title: MicroRNA-148a represents an independent prognostic marker in bladder cancer.
abstract: A previous study has demonstrated the roles of microRNA-148a (miR-148a) on apoptosis of bladder cancer cells. The goal of this study was to investigate whether the miR-148a expression level could serve as a new biomarker for the prognosis of bladder cancer patients. We collected a total of 126 bladder cancer samples. The expression level of miR-148a was determined with quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze the overall survival. Cox regression analysis was further used to identify prognostic factors. The expression levels of miR-148a in bladder cancer tissues were identified (1.5 ± 0.3; P < 0.001). The bladder cancer patients in the low-expression group more frequently had a high tumor grade (P = 0.025), increased tumor recurrence (P = 0.002), and advanced lymph node (LN) metastasis (P = 0.001). Patient survival analysis revealed a clear positive correlation between miR-148a expression level and survival time of bladder cancer patients (P = 0.005, log-rank = 7.714). In univariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis, we found that a low-expression level of miR-148a (P = 0.018), tumor grade (P = 0.006), lymph node metastasis (P = 0.001), and recurrence (P < 0.001) were associated with the prognosis of bladder cancer. In multivariate analysis, we found that miR-148a expression (RR = 0.206, 95 % CI 0.095-0.813, P = 0.029), tumor grade (RR = 0.714, 95 % CI 0.224-0.958, P = 0.714), lymph node metastasis (RR = 6.604, 95 % CI 3.192-12.547, P < 0.001), and recurrence (RR = 15.126, 95 % CI 6.714-22.025, P < 0.001) retained significance as an independent prognostic factor of bladder cancer survival (Table 3). All results have showed that miR-148a expression was decreased in bladder cancer specimens and reduced miR-148a expression was associated with poorer survival time, indicating that miR-148a may become a candidate factor for predicting the prognosis of bladder cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Qilu Hospital of Shan Dong University, No. 107 Wenhuaxi Road, Jinan City, 250012, China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Qilu Hospital of Shan Dong University, No. 107 Wenhuaxi Road, Jinan City, 250012, China.
authors.forename: Zhishun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Reproductive Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Qilu Hospital of Shan Dong University, No. 107 Wenhuaxi Road, Jinan City, 250012, China. xianzjiangjn@163.com.
authors.forename: Xianzhou
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C550570:MIRN148 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: Bladder cancer; Prognosis; Survival; miR-148a