MicroRNA-374a Expression as a Prognostic Biomarker in Lung Adenocarcinoma

• Main Authors: Yeseul Kim, Jongmin Sim, Hyunsung Kim, Seong Sik Bang, Seungyun Jee, Sungeon Park, Kiseok Jang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korean Society of Pathologists & the Korean Society for Cytopathology 2019-11-01
• Series: Journal of Pathology and Translational Medicine
• Subjects: lung neoplasms; adenocarcinoma; stage; recurrence; micrornas
• Online Access: http://www.jpatholtm.org/upload/pdf/jptm-2019-10-01.pdf
• ISSN: 2383-7837; 2383-7845

Background Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related death, and adenocarcinoma is the most common histologic subtype. MicroRNA is a small non-coding RNA that inhibits multiple target gene expression at the post-transcriptional level and is commonly dysregulated in malignant tumors. The purpose of this study was to analyze the expression of microRNA-374a (miR-374a) in lung adenocarcinoma and correlate its expression with various clinicopathological characteristics. Methods The expression level of miR-374a was measured in 111 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded lung adenocarcinoma tissues using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction assays. The correlation between miR-374a expression and clinicopathological parameters, including clinical outcome, was further analyzed. Results High miR-374 expression was correlated with advanced pT category (chi-square test, p=.004) and pleural invasion (chi-square test, p=.034). Survival analysis revealed that patients with high miR-374a expression had significantly shorter disease-free survival relative to those with low miR-374a expression (log-rank test, p=.032). Conclusions miR-374a expression may serve as a potential prognostic biomarker for predicting recurrence in early stage lung adenocarcinoma after curative surgery.