Potential value of circulatory microRNA122 gene expression as a prognostic and metastatic prediction marker for breast cancer

• Published in: Molecular biology reports Vol. 46; no. 3; pp. 2809 - 2818
• Main Authors: Saleh, Amany A., Soliman, Shimaa E., Habib, Mona Salah El-din, Gohar, Suzy F., Abo-Zeid, Ghada S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.06.2019; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Animal Anatomy; Animal Biochemistry; Biomarkers; Biomarkers, Tumor - blood; Biomarkers, Tumor - genetics; Biomarkers, Tumor - metabolism; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Breast cancer; Breast Neoplasms - blood; Breast Neoplasms - genetics; Breast Neoplasms - metabolism; Breast Neoplasms - pathology; Carcinoembryonic antigen; Case-Control Studies; Circulating MicroRNA - blood; Circulating MicroRNA - genetics; Disease-Free Survival; Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Female; Gene Expression; Histology; Humans; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Life Sciences; Metastases; Metastasis; MicroRNAs - blood; MicroRNAs - genetics; MicroRNAs - metabolism; Middle Aged; miRNA; Morphology; Neoplasm Metastasis; Neoplasm Staging; Original Article; Prognosis; Survival; Survival analysis; Breast cancer; MicroRNA; Metastasis; miR-122; RT-PCR
• DOI: 10.1007/s11033-019-04727-5
• ISSN: 0301-4851

Despite progress in terms of management, breast cancer still constitutes a major threat to health worldwide. Various microRNAs have been shown to play a fundamental role in tumor biology during development and progression. Therefore, our study was focused on investigating the role of circulating microRNA122 (miR-122) in breast cancer and its clinical utility as a potential easily accessible biomarker for use in the diagnostic and prognostic assessment of breast cancer. Determination of the serum CA15-3 and carcinoembryonic antigen levels was conducted using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The expression level of miR-122 was determined using real time PCR in 90 breast cancer patients and 60 healthy controls. Higher circulating miR-122 levels were found in breast cancer patients than in controls and higher miR-122 levels were observed in patients who experienced metastasis. Additionally, miR-122, at a cutoff > 2.2, had a sensitivity of 93.33% and a specificity of 90% when used to distinguish breast cancer patients from controls and was able to predict metastasis at a cutoff > 10.9 with a sensitivity of 95.83% and a specificity of 65.15%. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis revealed that high miR-122 expression is significantly associated with decreased overall survival and progression-free survival. This study concludes that circulatory miR-122 could be utilized as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in breast cancer patients.