Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is an EBV associated carcinoma showing prevalence in southeast China. Distant metastasis is the major cause of death. Herein, we investigated the expressions of microRNA-3182 (miR-3182) and EBV-miR-BART8-3p in 89 cases of NPC and evaluated their correlation with clinical outcomes. Fifty-one percent of NPC showed high level expression of miR-3182. Its expression was significantly correlated with distant metastasis (P=0.005). Fifty-two percent of NPC demonstrated high level expression of EBV-miR-BART8-3p and its expression was significantly correlated with distant metastasis (P=0.006). The overall survival was influenced by the expression of miR-3182 and EBV-miR-BART8-3p. The patients with a high-level expression of miR-3182 and EBV-miR-BART8-3p had worse overall survival (P=0.005 and P=0.007). Multivariable analysis demonstrated that EBV-miR-BART8-3p was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival (P=0.018). The expression of miR-3182 was significantly correlated with EBV-miR-BART8-3p (P=0.045). In conclusion, this is the first study examining the potential clinical utility of miR-3182 and EBV-miR-BART8-3p as prognostic biomarkers in NPC. EBV infection may promote NPC progression by disrupting the expression of miR-3182.
Keywords: EBV-miR-BART8-3p; Nasopharyngeal carcinoma; miR-3182; prognosis.
IJCEP Copyright © 2018.