Association of microRNA-33a Molecular Signature with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Diagnosis and Prognosis after Chemotherapy

• Published in: PloS one 2017-01, Vol.12 (1), p.e0170431-e0170431
• Main Authors: Hou, Li-Kun, Ma, Yu-Shui, Han, Yang, Lu, Gai-Xia, Luo, Pei, Chang, Zheng-Yan, Xie, Ru-Ting, Yang, Hui-Qiong, Chai, Li, Cai, Ming-Xiang, Wu, Ting-Miao, Yu, Fei, Qin, Shan-Shan, Lv, Zhong-Wei, Wu, Chun-Yan, Fu, Da
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adjuvant chemotherapy; Biology and life sciences; Biomarkers; Biomarkers, Tumor - metabolism; Bone cancer; Breast cancer; Cancer; Cancer therapies; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung - diagnosis; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung - drug therapy; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung - genetics; Care and treatment; Chemotherapy; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; Computer Simulation; Databases, Genetic; Demography; Diagnosis; Female; Gastric cancer; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Genes; Genetic aspects; Genomics; Hazards; Health aspects; Health risks; Hospitals; Humans; Lung cancer; Lung diseases; Lung Neoplasms - diagnosis; Lung Neoplasms - drug therapy; Lung Neoplasms - genetics; Male; Medical diagnosis; Medical prognosis; Medical research; Medicine and Health Sciences; Metastasis; MicroRNA; MicroRNAs; MicroRNAs - genetics; MicroRNAs - metabolism; Middle Aged; miRNA; Non-small cell lung cancer; Non-small cell lung carcinoma; Nuclear medicine; Oncology; Pathology; Patient outcomes; Patients; Physicians; Physiological aspects; Polymerase chain reaction; Prognosis; Proportional Hazards Models; Radiation therapy; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; Regression analysis; Regression models; Ribonucleic acid; Risk factors; RNA; Signal transduction; Stomach cancer; Survival; Survival Analysis; Tissues; Veterinary medicine
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0170431

This study aims to explore the expression pattern and prognostic significance of miR-33a in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with adjuvant chemotherapy. MiR-33aexpression in NSCLC was analyzed in silico using the GEO database and was subsequently confirmed by quantitative RT-PCR in 147 NSCLC biopsies. Among these, 32 of these biopsies were paired with adjacent non-neoplastic tissues. The survival analysis of NSCLC by Kaplan-Meier estimates was stratified based on miR-33a expression. In addition, multivariate survival analysis in corresponding groups of NSCLC patients was conducted by Cox proportional hazards regression model. The in silico analysis of miR-33a expression in NSCLC resulted to its down-regulation in different tumor types. The expression level of miR-33a was lower in each grade of NSCLC tumor biopsies than in normal lung tissues. Univariate and multivariate survival analysis further established that low miR-33a expression was an important risk factor for overall survival and disease free survival in NSCLC patients. Our study implied that miR-33a expression levels may have an essential role in NSCLC progression, and could act as a specific and sensitive biomarker for NSCLC patients who have undergone adjuvant chemotherapy.