Circulating miR-19a and miR-205 in Serum May Predict the Sensitivity of Luminal A Subtype of Breast Cancer Patients to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy with Epirubicin Plus Paclitaxel

Abstract

BackgroundThe luminal A subtype of breast cancer has a good prognosis and is sensitive to endocrine therapy but is less sensitive to chemotherapy. It is necessary to identify biomarkers to predict chemosensitivity and avoid over-treatment. We hypothesized that miRNAs in the serum might be associated with chemosensitivity.MethodsSixty-eight breast cancer patients received neoadjuvant chemotherapy with epirubicin plus paclitaxel. The serum of the patients was collected before chemotherapy and stored at −80°C. The samples were classified into two groups in term of the chemosensitivity. We identified the differential expression patterns of miRNAs between the chemotherapy sensitive and resistant groups using microRNA profiling. Four miRNAs that were differentially expressed between the two groups were further validated in another 56 samples. We created a model fitting formula and a receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve using logistic regression analysis to evaluate the prediction potency.ResultsWe identified 8 miRNAs differentially expressed between the two groups: 6 miRNAs were up-regulated, and 2 miRNAs were down-regulated in the resistant group compared with the sensitive group. The expression of miR-19a and miR-205 were determined to have significant differences between the two groups (P<0.05). A predictive model of these two miRNAs was created by the logistic regression analysis. The probability of this model was 89.71%. Based on the ROC curve, the specificity was 75.00%, and the sensitivity was 81.25%.ConclusionsThe combination of miR-19a and miR-205 in the serum may predict the chemosensitivity of luminal A subtype of breast cancer to epirubicin plus paclitaxel neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

How interacting pathways are regulated by miRNAs in breast cancer subtypes

“…Hsa-miR-205 has already been proposed as a circulating biomarker of the response of the BC luminal A subtype to neoadjuvant chemotherapy [83]. …”

Clinical Relevance of Circulating, Cell-Free and Exosomal microRNAs in Plasma and Serum of Breast Cancer Patients

“…In this regard, serum miR-125b was significantly associated with therapeutic response, exhibiting higher expression levels in primary invasive ductal carcinoma patients non-responsive to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), epirubicin and cyclophosphamide (FEC) [38]. The combination of serum miR-19a and miR-205 may predict the chemosensitivity of luminal A subtype of BC to epirubicin plus paclitaxel [39]. Serum miR-375 and miR-122 exhibited significant correlations with clinical outcomes in stage II-III BC patients, including response to NACT and relapse with metastatic disease [40].…”

The emerging role of miR‐19 in glioma

“…MiR‐17‐92 cluster is regarded as the first miRNA cluster with oncogenic potential,15 the cluster includes 6 single mature miRNAs, miR‐19 has been supposed to be the key oncogenic miRNA among the six members of miR‐17‐92 cluster. MiR‐19 is located on chromosome 13 in c13orf25 16 and its expression is up‐regulated in bladder cancer, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, gastric cancer and laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma 17, 18, 19, 20, 21. MiR‐19 promotes tumourigenesis by regulating target genes and related signalling pathways.…”