Confirmation of a metastasis-specific microRNA signature in primary colon cancer

Sci Rep. 2018 Mar 27;8(1):5242. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-22532-1.

Abstract

The identification of patients with high-risk stage II colon cancer who may benefit from adjuvant therapy may allow the clinical approach to be tailored for these patients based on an understanding of tumour biology. MicroRNAs have been proposed as markers of the prognosis or treatment response in colorectal cancer. Recently, a 2-microRNA signature (let-7i and miR-10b) was proposed to identify colorectal cancer patients at risk of developing distant metastasis. We assessed the prognostic value of this signature and additional candidate microRNAs in an independent, clinically well-defined, prospectively collected cohort of primary colon cancer patients including stage I-II colon cancer without and stage III colon cancer with adjuvant treatment. The 2-microRNA signature specifically predicted hepatic recurrence in the stage I-II group, but not the overall ability to develop distant metastasis. The addition of miR-30b to the 2-microRNA signature allowed the prediction of both distant metastasis and hepatic recurrence in patients with stage I-II colon cancer who did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy. Available gene expression data allowed us to associate miR-30b expression with axon guidance and let-7i expression with cell adhesion, migration, and motility.

Publication types

  • Multicenter Study
  • Observational Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / genetics
  • Chemotherapy, Adjuvant
  • Colonic Neoplasms / diagnosis
  • Colonic Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Colonic Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Colonic Neoplasms / pathology
  • Female
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
  • Humans
  • Liver Neoplasms / diagnosis
  • Liver Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Liver Neoplasms / genetics
  • Liver Neoplasms / secondary*
  • Male
  • MicroRNAs / genetics*
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasm Metastasis / diagnosis
  • Neoplasm Metastasis / drug therapy
  • Neoplasm Metastasis / genetics*
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / diagnosis
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / drug therapy
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / genetics
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / secondary
  • Prognosis
  • Prospective Studies

Substances

  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • MIRN30b microRNA, human
  • MicroRNAs
  • mirnlet7 microRNA, human