Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the expression of miR-155 in colonic cancer tissue and to assess the potential predictive value of miR-155 in colonic cancer patients.
Materials and methods: From March to September of 2011, we included 57 patients with primary colonic cancer who underwent curative surgical resection. Total RNAs were extracted from colonic cancer tissues and adjacent normal tissues. Then the expression of miR-155 in colonic cancer and paracancerous tissues was investigated using real time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. And the relationship between miR-155 expression level and the clinical, pathological parameters of colonic cancer was analyzed.
Results: The relative expression level of miR-155 in colonic cancer tissues was significantly higher than that in paracancerous tissues and related to tumor-node-metastasis staging, tumor invasion, metastasis, and differentiation.
Conclusion: The expression of miR-155 is up-regulated in colonic cancer tissues. MiR-155 may acts as proto-oncogenes involved in carcinogenesis, development, and invasion of colon cancer making it a potential target for gene therapy of colon cancer.
Keywords: Colonic cancer; miR-155; micro RNA.