Objective: To investigate the expression of microRNA-21(miR-21) in ovarian epithelial carcinoma and its association with the clinicopathological features.
Methods: The expression of miR-21 was detected by Stem-loop real-time RT-PCR in 48 cases of ovarian epithelial carcinomas, 24 cases of benign ovarian epithelial tumors and 15 cases of normal ovarian tissues.
Results: The relative expression level of miR-21(2-(DeltaDelta)CT) was 4.849-/+1.813 in the ovarian epithelial carcinomas, significantly higher than that in the benign ovarian tumors and normal ovarian tissues (P<0.01), but comparable between the latter two groups. The expression of miR-21 was not correlated to the histological type, but increased significantly with the progression of the clinical stages and histological grading (P<0.01), showing a close correlation to lymphatic metastasis.
Conclusion: MiR-21 might play a role as an oncogene in the tumorigenesis and development of ovarian epithelial carcinoma, and is possibly correlated to the progression and prognosis of ovarian epithelial carcinoma.