Identification of micro-RNA expression profile related to recurrence in women with ESMO low-risk endometrial cancer

• Main Authors: Tiphaine de Foucher, Maria Sbeih, Jenifer Uzan, Sofiane Bendifallah, Marine Lefevre, Nathalie Chabbert-Buffet, Selim Aractingi, Catherine Uzan, Issam Abd Alsalam, Rana Mitri, Romain H. Fontaine, Emile Daraï, Bassam Haddad, Céline Méhats, Marcos Ballester, Geoffroy Canlorbe, Cyril Touboul
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2018-05-01
• Series: Journal of Translational Medicine
• Subjects: Low risk endometrial cancer; Recurrence; MicroRNAs; MicroRNA-184
• Online Access: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12967-018-1515-6

Abstract Background Actual European pathological classification of early-stage endometrial cancer (EC) may show insufficient accuracy to precisely stratify recurrence risk, leading to potential over or under treatment. Micro-RNAs are post-transcriptional regulators involved in carcinogenic mechanisms, with some micro-RNA patterns of expression associated with EC characteristics and prognosis. We previously demonstrated that downregulation of micro-RNA-184 was associated with lymph node involvement in low-risk EC (LREC). The aim of this study was to evaluate whether micro-RNA signature in tumor tissues from LREC women can be correlated with the occurrence of recurrences. Methods MicroRNA expression was assessed by chip analysis and qRT-PCR in 7 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) LREC primary tumors from women whose follow up showed recurrences (R+) and in 14 FFPE LREC primary tumors from women whose follow up did not show any recurrence (R−), matched for grade and age. Various statistical analyses, including enrichment analysis and a minimum p-value approach, were performed. Results The expression levels of micro-RNAs-184, -497-5p, and -196b-3p were significantly lower in R+ compared to R− women. Women with a micro-RNA-184 fold change < 0.083 were more likely to show recurrence (n = 6; 66%) compared to those with a micro-RNA-184 fold change > 0.083 (n = 1; 8%), p = 0.016. Women with a micro-RNA-196 fold change < 0.56 were more likely to show recurrence (n = 5; 100%) compared to those with a micro-RNA-196 fold change > 0.56 (n = 2; 13%), p = 0.001. Conclusions These findings confirm the great interest of micro-RNA-184 as a prognostic tool to improve the management of LREC women.