Serum microRNA 125b as a diagnostic or prognostic biomarker for advanced NSCLC patients receiving cisplatin-based chemotherapy

• Published in: Acta pharmacologica Sinica Vol. 34; no. 2; pp. 309 - 313
• Main Authors: Cui, En-hai, Li, Hong-jiao, Hua, Feng, Wang, Bin, Mao, Wei, Feng, Xue-ren, Li, Jian-you, Wang, Xiang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.02.2013; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use; Biomarkers, Tumor - blood; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung - blood; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung - diagnosis; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung - drug therapy; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung - pathology; Cisplatin - therapeutic use; Cohort Studies; Diagnosis; Female; Humans; Immunology; Internal Medicine; Lung - drug effects; Lung - pathology; Lung Neoplasms - blood; Lung Neoplasms - diagnosis; Lung Neoplasms - drug therapy; Lung Neoplasms - pathology; Male; Medical Microbiology; microRNA; MicroRNAs - blood; Middle Aged; Original; original-article; Pharmacology/Toxicology; Prognosis; Vaccine; 化疗; 患者; 晚期; 生物标志物; 血清; 非小细胞肺癌; 预后; cisplatin-based chemotherapy; biomarker; prognosis; microRNA 125b; non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
• ISSN: 1671-4083; 1745-7254
• DOI: 10.1038/aps.2012.125

Aim： To investigate the expression profile of microRNAs in inoperable advanced non-small cell lung cancer （NSCLC） patients receiving chemotherapy and the potential relevance of microRNAs to clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis. Methods： Serum samples were taken from 260 inoperable advanced NSCLC patients and 260 healthy individuals. All the patients received cisplatin-based chemotherapy, including NP/NC regimens, GP/GC regimens, and TP/TC regimens. The serum levels of microRNAs （miR-125b, miR-lOb, miR-34a and miR-155） were determined by quantitative real-time PCR. Results： Serum levels of the 4 microRNAs examined in NSCLC patients were significantly increased as compared with healthy individuals. The levels of miR-125b and miR-155 were changed in a similar pattern： the patients with stage IV disease had the highest one, while the patients with stage III A and stage III B disease showed similar increased levels. The levels of miR-lOb and miR-34a in the patients with different stages were increased to similar extent. The level of miR-125b in pooriy differentiated cancer was significantly higher than those in well and moderately differentiated cancers, while the levels of miR-lOb, miR-34a, and miR-155 did not significantly differ with cancer differentiation. Among the 4 microRNAs examined, only miR-125b was significantly associated with therapeutic response, exhibiting higher expression levels in non-responsive patients. Furthermore, the high level of miR-125b was significantly correlated with poor patient survival. A multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that the expression level of miR-125b was an independent prognostic marker in NSCLC patients. Conclusion： Our results suggest that miR-125b is a potential diagnostic or prognostic biomarker for NSCLC. This finding has important implications for development of targeted therapeutics to overcome chemotherapeutic resistance in NSCLC.