title: Identifying High-Risk Stage II Colon Cancer Patients: A Three-MicroRNA-Based Score as a Prognostic Biomarker.
abstract: The potential benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy in surgically resected patients with stage II colorectal cancer is controversial. The current guidelines, which are based solely on clinical factors, have limited usefulness, and a clear need exists for biomarkers to supplement the clinical information. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have previously been shown to be useful cancer biomarkers. In the present study, we assessed the usefulness of a miRNA score to help identify the subset of high-risk patients likely to benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy.
  
  
  
  Six miRNAs previously identified as prognostic markers in Asian patients (miR-21-5p, miR-20a-5p, miR-103a-3p, miR-106b-5p, miR-143-5p, and miR-215) were studied in tumor samples from 71 white patients with stage II colon cancer.
  
  
  
  Three miRNAs (miR-103a-3p, miR-143-5p, and miR-215) emerged as independent prognostic markers on multivariate analysis and were used to construct a miRNA-based score that classified patients into high- and low-risk groups. The patients in the high-risk group had significantly shorter disease-free survival compared with their low-risk counterparts (P = .003). The time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that our 3-miRNA score improved the prediction of outcome when added to the clinical features (P = .023).
  
  
  
  Our 3-miRNA score added valuable prognostic information to the clinical features in stage II colon cancer. Further research in this field could provide useful tools to determine whether adjuvant chemotherapy would benefit patients with stage II colon cancer after surgery.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Oncology and Embryology Laboratory, Human Anatomy Unit, School of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Oriol
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Caritg
authors.affiliation: Molecular Oncology and Embryology Laboratory, Human Anatomy Unit, School of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: anavarroponz@ub.edu.
authors.forename: Alfons
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Navarro
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology and Surgery, Hospital Municipal de Badalona, Badalona, Spain.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Moreno
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology and Surgery, Hospital Municipal de Badalona, Badalona, Spain.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Martínez-Rodenas
authors.affiliation: Molecular Oncology and Embryology Laboratory, Human Anatomy Unit, School of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cordeiro
authors.affiliation: Molecular Oncology and Embryology Laboratory, Human Anatomy Unit, School of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Muñoz
authors.affiliation: Molecular Oncology and Embryology Laboratory, Human Anatomy Unit, School of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ruiz-Martinez
authors.affiliation: Molecular Oncology and Embryology Laboratory, Human Anatomy Unit, School of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Santasusagna
authors.affiliation: Molecular Oncology and Embryology Laboratory, Human Anatomy Unit, School of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Joan Josep
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Castellano
authors.affiliation: Molecular Oncology and Embryology Laboratory, Human Anatomy Unit, School of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Mariano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Monzó
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D019540:Area Under Curve; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics*; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049670:History, 17th Century; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012372:ROC Curve; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C544749:MIRN103 microRNA, human; C542359:MIRN143 microRNA, human; C553667:MIRN215 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: Adjuvant chemotherapy; Disease-free survival; miR-103a; miR-143-5p; miR-215