The diagnostic and prognostic role of circulating miR-141 expression in non-small-cell lung cancer patients.

MicroRNAs (miRNA) play a crucial role in pathogenesis, progress, and prognosis of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The purpose of this present study was to investigate the correlation of serum miR-141 expression with risk, clinicaopathologic features and OS in NSCLC patients, and further to explore its prognostic value in subtypes of NSCLC. 108 patients diagnosed with primary NSCLC and 54 age and gender matched health volunteers were recruited in this prospective cohort study. Blood serum was collected from all patients before treatment and health controls. Total RNA was extracted from serum and miRNA expression was measure by PCR methods. Serum miR-141 expression was evaluated in NSCLC patients (4.124 (3.259-4.944)) than in health controls (2.181 (1.036-2.946)), P<0.001, with area under curve (AUC) 0.856 (95% CI: 0.798-0.913) by Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. And miR-141 expression was associated with differentiation (P=0.017), lymphatic metastasis (P=0.015), distant metastasis (P=0.025) and overall survival (OS) (P=0.002). Besides, miR-141 level was independent risk factor for OS (P=0.019) in NSCLC patients. Further subtype's analysis showed that serum miR-141 level could only predict OS in lung adenocarcinoma patients but not in SCC patients. Circulating miR-141 may be a novel and promising biomarker for susceptibility, clinicopathologic features of NSCLC patients, as well as an independent prognosis factor in lung adenocarcinomas patients but not in SCC patients.