Investigating VEGF. miR-145-3p, and miR-101-3p Expression in Patients with Cholangiocarcinoma

Abstract

Introduction: Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is the second most common type of primary liver cancer. Several factors, such as epigenetic changes in promoter genes, gene expression, and microRNAs (miR), can contribute to genomic instability in cancer. This study aimed at evaluating the expression of VEGF, miRs 145-3p, and 101-3p in patients with CCA and their potential as biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis of CCA. Material and methods : Sixty two patients were studied. Out of these 62 patients, 41 cases had confirm CCA and 21 cases had hepatopathies complications. The RNA was extracted from a paraffined tissue block, and then the synthesis of cDNA was performed. The analysis of the expression of VEGF, miR-145-3p, and miR-101-3p was carried out by polymerase chain reaction in real time. Results:The findings revealed that miRs 145-3p and 101-3p were under expressed in the case group compared to the control group (0.46; 0.17; P = 0.0001, respectively). VEGF was overexpressed in the case group compared to the control group (11.8; P = 0.0001). An increase in miR-145-3p expression level was observed in patients with perihilar CCA compared to those with distal CCA (0.51 ± 0.41; 0.17 ± 0.13; P = 0.0698). Survival rate analysis showed that 41.9% of patients with intrahepatic CCA and 31.5% of patients with extrahepatic CCA were free from death within 11 months, leading to a significant difference (P> 0.05). Conclusion: The underexpression of miRNAs, tumor suppressors, the overexpression of VEGF, smoking, and aging were associated with CCA based on our findings. It seems that the reduced expression of the studies miRNAs and increased expression of VEGF can contribute to a decrease in survival rate of patients with tumor in their intrahepatic bile ducts.

MiR-101: An Important Regulator of Gene Expression and Tumor Ecosystem

“…Consistent with previous studies, the discoveries also confirm that miR-101 expression is decreased in a wide variety of cancers [ 20 ]. The decreased miR-101 promotes cancer cell proliferation by increasing the expression of numerous oncogenes.…”

Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging assessment of residual tumor angiogenesis after insufficient microwave ablation and donafenib adjuvant therapy

“…Hypoxia and hypoxia-driven angiogenesis play important roles in tumor progression, and the hypoxic environment generated by local ablation may induce the overexpression of a variety of angiogenesis-related cytokines 12 , 13 , among which VEGF is a key factor 14 , 15 . It has been well documented 16 – 18 that VEGF is closely associated with the development and prognosis of malignant tumors such as HCC. VEGF and its receptor are significantly overexpressed in HCC tissues compared with normal liver tissues and are related to the high malignancy and poor prognosis of HCC 19 .…”

Prediction of angiogenesis in extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma using MRI-based machine learning

“…In addition, the 5-year survival rate of eCCA patients with high microvessel density MVD (2.2%) was significantly worse than low MVD patients (42.1%) ( 8 , 9 ). It is undeniable that VEGF and MVD are indeed related to the prognosis and progression of almost all tumors, and this is also true in eCCA ( 10 ), and about 59% of eCCA patients overexpress VEGF ( 11 ). Currently, immunohistochemical stains and microarray analysis are most commonly used to detect VEGF expression and MVD.…”