Tissue over-expression of miR-183, observed in 68.3% of tongue carcinomas, was associated with clinical stage (p = 0.037), tumor size (p = 0.036), and high alcohol intake (p = 0.034).The patients with miR-183 over-expression had significantly shorter overall survival (p = 0.006) and a 5.666 times higher risk of poor outcome (p = 0.005), while miR-21 over-expression carried a tendency towards poorer survival (p = 0.073).
Notably, miR-200b and miR-200c were strongly downregulated while miR-210 and miR-21 were upregulated in the juxta-tumoral vs tumor-remote stroma in carcinomas with tumor budding.
MIR21 expression level in colorectal carcinoma is associated with worse clinical outcome, and this association is stronger in carcinomas expressing high-level PTGS2, suggesting complex roles of immunity and inflammation in tumor progression.
We explored miR-21 and PDCD4 expression as markers of progression and prognosis and for a potential translational value in the development of agents slowing growth of HNSCC and other carcinomas useful in palliative therapy or as a component of multi-modality treatments.
The expression levels of miR-21 and miR-155 were significantly higher in high-grade NE carcinomas (LCNECs and SCLCs) than in carcinoid tumors (TCs and ACs) (each P < 0.001).
Gastric cancer is one of the most common carcinomas in China. microRNAs, a type of non-coding RNA, are important specific regulators and are involved in numerous bioprocesses of an organism. microRNA-21 (miR-21) has been identified as the most suitable choice for further investigation because it is overexpressed in nearly all solid tumors; furthermore, it has been demonstrated that miR-21 is involved in the genesis and progression of human cancer.
Carcinomas showed higher expression of miR-21, miR-221, miR-155, miR-100, and miR-181b than benign lesions by qRT-PCR, and overexpression of miR-21, miR-221, and miR-181b was confirmed by microarray analysis.
Clustering and comparative analysis of miRNA read frequencies showed that normal breast samples were separated from most noninvasive ductal carcinoma in situ and invasive carcinomas by increased miR-21 (the most abundant miRNA in carcinomas) and multiple decreased miRNA families (including miR-98/let-7), with most miRNA changes apparent already in the noninvasive carcinomas.
To determine the cellular localization of miR-21 and to compare its expression levels with histopathological features, we performed in situ hybridization and semi-quantitative assessment of the miR-21 signal on 12 LN negative grade I (assumed low risk), and 12 LN positive grade II (high risk) breast cancers. miR-21 was predominantly seen in cancer associated fibroblast-like cells, with no difference in expression levels between grade I and grade II carcinomas.
Importantly, subgroup analysis suggested that higher expression of miR-21 correlated with worse OS in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) (HR 1·46, 95% CI: 1·13-1·87, P = 0·004) and carcinomas in digestion system (HR 1·56, 95% CI: 1·08-2·26, P = 0·018).
We used this combined ISH/IHC assay to study a subset of cancer-associated miRNAs, including miRNAs frequently detected at low (miR-34a and miR-126) and high (miR-21 and miR-155) levels, in a panel of breast, colorectal, lung, pancreas, and prostate carcinomas.
TaqMan miRNA assays showed that miR-21 was significantly overexpressed in 20 pancreatic carcinomas and 6 cancer cell lines compared with paired benign tissues and normal pancreas.
Carcinomas in this group showed significantly increased expression of miR-21, miR-20a, miR-145, miR-181b, and miR-203 (P< or =0.005 for all comparisons with controls).