Plasma Level Of miR-21 And miR-451 In Primary And Recurrent Breast Cancer Patients

Abstract

Purpose

MiR-21 and miR-451 are closely associated with tumor initiation, drug resistance, and recurrence of breast cancer (BC). This study was conducted to evaluate the possible value of the plasma level of miR-21 and miR-451 as potential biomarkers for the detection of primary and recurrent BC.

Patients and methods

In this descriptive–analytical study, the plasma level of miR-21 and miR-451 was measured in 23 primary BC patients, 24 recurrent (local/distant metastasis) BC patients, and 24 aged-match women as healthy controls using quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Finally, data were analyzed using SPSS software, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of miRNAs was measured.

Results

The plasma level of miR-21 was significantly increased in both groups of primary (P<0.001) and recurrent (P<0.001) BC patients in comparison with healthy women. However, the plasma level of miR-451 was not significantly changed in primary (P=0.065) and recurrent (P=0.06) BC patients than healthy controls. The elevation of both miR-21 and miR-451 plasma level was not significantly changed in recurrent patients compared with non-recurrent (primary) patients (P=0.481, and P=1, respectively). Based on the ROC analyses, the areas under the curves (AUC) for miR-21 in discriminating primary BC and recurrent BC patients from healthy controls were 0.828 (95% CI: 0.712 to 0.944) and 0.865 (95% CI: 0.756 to 0.974), respectively.

Conclusion

These data indicating that plasma miR-21 may be useful as a biomarker for the detection of both primary and recurrent BC. However, plasma miR-451 lacks enough sensitivity in the detection of primary and recurrent BC, and more studies are needed in this area.

Keywords:

• miRNA-21
• miRNA-451
• breast cancer
• biomarker

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the Foundation for funding this project. This study was supported by Cellular and Molecular Research Center of Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran (Grant No. 2581). We would also like to acknowledge the patients and the healthy controls who participated in this study and Dr. Amiri for his assistance in sample collection.

Abbreviations

BC, breast cancer; qRT-PCR, quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction; ROC, receiver operating characteristic; AUC, areas under the curves; CEA, carcinoembryonic antigen; CA 15-3, carbohydrate antigen 15–3; miRNAs, microRNAs; PTEN, phosphatase and tensin homolog; TMP1, tropomyosin 1 alpha; PDCD4, Programmed Cell Death 4; IDC, invasive ductal carcinoma; DCIS, ductal carcinoma in situ; AP-1, activation protein 1; STAT3, signal transducer and activator of transcription 3; SRF, serum-response factor; NF-κB, nuclear factor-kappa B; TGFβ, transforming growth factor β; BMP, bone morphogenetic protein; MDR1, multidrug resistance type 1.

Ethics Approval And Consent To Participate

The study procedure was conducted in accordance with principles for human experimentation as defined in the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences Research Ethics Committee (Ethical permit no. IR.SKUMS.REC.1394.178), Iran. The written informed consent was provided from all patients related to this study.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.