J Breast Cancer.  2011 Dec;14(4):269-275. 10.4048/jbc.2011.14.4.269.

Prognostic Implications of MicroRNA-21 Overexpression in Invasive Ductal Carcinomas of the Breast

• Lee JA
• Lee HY
• Lee ES
• Kim I
• Bae JW

• KMID: 2175719
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4048/jbc.2011.14.4.269

Abstract

PURPOSE
Among more than 500 microRNAs, microRNA-21 (miR-21) is known to act as an oncogene. The aim of this study was to investigate the significance of miR-21 expression level in relation with clinicopathological factors and prognosis in breast cancer.
METHODS
MicroRNA was extracted from cancer and normal breast tissue of 109 breast cancer patients who underwent surgery from 2002 to 2004 using the Taqman(R) MicroRNA Assay. The correlation between miR-21 expression and clinicopathologic features was analyzed and the significance of miR-21 as a prognostic factor and its relationship with survival was determined.
RESULTS
MiR-21 expression was higher in cancer tissues than in normal tissues (p<0.0001). High miR-21 expression was associated with mastectomy, larger tumor size, higher stage, higher grade, estrogen receptor (ER) negative, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) positive, HER2 positive breast cancer subtype, high Ki-67 expression, and death. On multivariate analysis, prognostic factors for overall survival were ER and miR-21. High miR-21 expression was significantly related to lower overall survival (p=0.031).
CONCLUSION
This study supports the role of miR-21 as an oncogene and a biomarker for breast cancer with its high expression in cancer tissues and its relationship with other prognostic factors and survival.

Keyword

Breast neoplasms; Human MicroRNA-21; Oncogene; Prognosis; Survival

MeSH Terms

Breast
Breast Neoplasms
Carcinoma, Ductal
Estrogens
Humans
Mastectomy
MicroRNAs
Multivariate Analysis
Oncogenes
Prognosis
Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor
Receptor, erbB-2
Estrogens
MicroRNAs
Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor
Receptor, erbB-2

Figure

• 

  Figure 1 (A) Amplification plots with ΔCt values of miR-21 in breast cancer and normal tissues, (B) comparison of mean ΔCt of miR-21 between breast cancer tissue (-7.044±1.26) and normal tissue (-5.92±7.19, p<0.0001).

• 

  Figure 2 Disease-free survival (p=0.862) (A) and overall survival (p=0.031) (B) according to miR-21 relative quantity (RQ).

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