Of the differentially regulated miRs in the discovery set, miR-29c and miR-126 were confirmed using real-time PCR to be upregulated in CLL patient cells with ibrutinib therapy.
In conclusion, down-regulation of miR-29c is associated with higher tumor burden and significantly predicts short survival in Chinese patients with CLL.
Additionally, decreased levels of two CLL signature miRNAs miR-29c and miR-223 are associated with ZAP70(+) and IgV(H) unmutated status and with shorter time to first therapy.
In this study we also found that IGHV unmutated, high expression of ZAP-70 protein, and low expression of the miR-223, miR-29c, miR-29b, and miR-181 family were strongly associated with disease progression in CLL cases harboring 17p deletion, whereas in those harboring trisomy 12 only high expression of the miR-181a, among the analyzed parameters, suggested more aggressive disease.