title: Relationship between miR-7 expression and treatment outcomes with gefitinib in non-small cell lung cancer.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of gefitinib chemotherapy on the serum levels of miR-7 in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A total of 126 patients were enrolled in the present study (stage I-II, n=54 and stage III-IV, n=72). Patients with stage I-II NSCLC underwent surgery in combination with gefitinib chemotherapy, whereas only gefitinib chemotherapy was administered to patients with stage III-IV disease. Serum levels of miR-7 before and after treatment were measured with quantitative polymerase chain reaction using fluorogenic probes, and miR-7 positivity and scoring in resected specimens were determined by immunohistochemistry. The number of miR-7-positive cases and the number of cases with higher miR-7 scores were significantly lower among patients with stage I-II NSCLC than those with stage III-IV disease. Additionally, serum levels of miR-7 before and after intervention were lower in stage I-II than in stage III-IV NSCLC cases. Serum levels of miR-7 after treatment were significantly lower than those before intervention in the two groups. The treatment success rate was significantly higher in miR-7-negative patients than in miR-7-positive patients in the two patient groups. Adverse event rates in miR-7-negative and -positive patients were comparable between the groups. Among those with stage III-IV NSCLC, the survival rate of miR-7-positive patients was significantly lower than that of miR-7-negative patients. Conversely, among those with I-II NSCLC, the progression-free survival and median survival time of miR-7-positive patients were significantly lower than those of miR-7-negative patients. Our findings suggest that serum and expression levels of miR-7 in the tissue were closely associated with tumor staging and the therapeutic effects of gefitinib in NSCLC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, People's Hospital of Laiwu City, Laiwu Hospital Affiliated to Taishan Medical College, Laiwu, Shandong 271100, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mou
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, People's Hospital of Laiwu City, Laiwu Hospital Affiliated to Taishan Medical College, Laiwu, Shandong 271100, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Weiwei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, People's Hospital of Laiwu City, Laiwu Hospital Affiliated to Taishan Medical College, Laiwu, Shandong 271100, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Cuihua
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, People's Hospital of Laiwu City, Laiwu Hospital Affiliated to Taishan Medical College, Laiwu, Shandong 271100, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jinzhong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, People's Hospital of Laiwu City, Laiwu Hospital Affiliated to Taishan Medical College, Laiwu, Shandong 271100, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Wenjie
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Qwang
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, People's Hospital of Laiwu City, Laiwu Hospital Affiliated to Taishan Medical College, Laiwu, Shandong 271100, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Shandong Cancer Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, Shandong 250117, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tian
keywords: gefitinib; miR-7; non-small cell lung cancer