miR-222 expression is correlated with the ATA risk stratifications in papillary thyroid carcinomas

• Published in: Medicine (Baltimore) Vol. 98; no. 25; p. e16050
• Main Authors: Xiang, Dapeng, Tian, Bin, Yang, Tianyao, Li, Zhiyu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wolters Kluwer Health 01.06.2019
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Biomarkers, Tumor - analysis; Biomarkers, Tumor - biosynthesis; Biomarkers, Tumor - blood; China; Clinical Trial/Experimental Study; Female; Humans; Male; Medical Oncology - organization & administration; MicroRNAs - analysis; MicroRNAs - biosynthesis; MicroRNAs - blood; Middle Aged; Prognosis; Risk Assessment - methods; Thyroid Cancer, Papillary - blood; Thyroid Cancer, Papillary - classification; China
• ISSN: 0025-7974; 1536-5964
• DOI: 10.1097/MD.0000000000016050

miR-222 is one of the most consistently overexpressed miRNAs in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). Previous studies demonstrated that miR-222 overexpression conferred high-risk features in PTC patients, suggesting its value in risk-stratification. However, studies in term of miR-222's utility on stratifying PTCs are lacking. One hundred patients including 10 with multinodular goiter and 90 with PTC were enrolled. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples were exploited for miR-222 quantitative reverse transcriptase- polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis. Correlations between miR-222 expression and different clinicopathological features, Tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging and ATA risk level were analyzed. miR-222 expression of the PTC group was significantly higher than that of the goiter group (P < .001). Furthermore, miR-222 expression was significantly higher in PTCs with advanced features like larger tumor, capsular invasion, vascular invasion and lymph nodes metastasis. The majority of patients (61%) were in stage I group (similar to ATA low-risk) by TNM staging system. As to the ATA system, the majority (73%) were in intermediate-risk group (similar to TNM stage II and III roughly). Contrary to previous report, here we found that miR-222 expression was correlated with the ATA risk level (P < .001), but not with the TNM staging (P = .122). In the present study, we demonstrated that miR-222 overexpression was correlated with advanced features like capsular invasion, vascular invasion, larger tumor size and lymph node metastasis in PTCs. Most importantly, miR-222 expression was correlated with ATA risk levels, suggesting its potential value in PTC risk-stratification.