MicroRNA-711 is a prognostic factor for poor overall survival and has an oncogenic role in breast cancer

Abstract

Abstract. MicroRNAs are important in cancer development and progression. In the present study, the clinical significance and function of microRNA-711 (miR-711) expression in breast cancer were investigated. The expression level of miR-711 was analyzed in breast cancer tissue samples using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Cell proliferation, colony formation, apoptosis and Transwell assays were performed in breast cancer cell lines transfected with miR-711 mimics or inhibitors, or control sequence. miR-711 was found to be upregulated in 30 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded breast cancer tissue samples compared with paired non-cancerous breast tissues (P<0.05). Furthermore, a higher miR-711 expression was demonstrated to be associated with poor overall and disease-free survival times in 161 breast cancer patients, and miR-711 was identified as an independent prognostic factor using multivariate Cox regression analysis. In vitro, overexpression of miR-711 resulted in a significant increase in proliferation, colony formation, migration and invasion of breast cancer cells. By contrast, downregulating miR-711 inhibited cell proliferation, colony formation, migration and invasion and enhanced the rate of apoptosis of breast cancer cells. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to demonstrate that miR-711 is an independent prognostic factor and serves an important oncogenic function in breast cancer, suggesting that miR-711 is a potential biomarker of prognosis and a molecular therapeutic target in breast cancer. IntroductionBreast cancer is the most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer-associated mortality in women worldwide (1). Breast cancer mortality rates have decreased in North America and several European countries over the past 25 years, principally due to earlier detection and improved treatments (2,3). However, in numerous African and Asian countries, the incidence and mortality rates have increased (4). Therefore, mortality from breast cancer remains a significant health issue globally. In general, the primary risk factors for breast cancer in women are old age (>50 years) and circulating estrogen (5). There are two strategies for enhancing the survival of breast cancer patients: Early detection and appropriate treatment. Primary treatments include surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, endocrine therapy and targeted therapy. Studies have shown that the integrated use of a variety of treatments is advantageous to the prognosis of breast cancer patients (6). At present, formulation of a treatment plan, including surgery and adjuvant therapy, is primarily based on clinical stage and the presence of several limited biomarkers, including estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (6). However, the tumor-node-metastasis staging system and these biomarkers do not meet the requirements for personalized therapy and/or precise therapy. Identifying biomarkers for precisely predicting prognosis or for future targeted thera...

MicroRNA-411 represents an innovative bio-marker in breast cancer detection

“…Breast cancer is a severe threat to health among women worldwide, due to its high incidence rates and low overall survival [19]. Tumor metastasis may be responsible for the dismal clinical outcomes of breast cancer [3].…”

Prognostic impact of micro-rna expression in breast cancer: systematic review

“…The hyperexpression of miRNA-21 10 , miRNA-301a 11 and miRNA-711 5 was associated with poorer prognosis (lower overall survival) in six studies, while miRNA-127 16 and miRNA-339-5p 19 hyperexpression were associated with better prognosis (greater overall survival) in two studies. On the other hand, the hypoexpression of miRNA-15a 26 , miRNA-29b 12 , miRNA-124 13 , miRNA-129-5p 17 , miRNA-199b-5p 4 , miRNA-200b 21,25 , miRNA-204 20 , miRNA-20 18 and miRNA-218 6 was associated to the worst prognosis in nine studies, and miRNA-210 24 hypoexpression was associated with better prognosis in a single study (Table 2).…”

“…The miRNAs can be studied in tumor tissues and biological fluids, such as serum or plasma. Differences in the expression of certain miRNAs in breast carcinoma tissues compared to normal tissues have been described in several studies and suggest that miRNAs may be promising biomarkers, useful for early detection and prognosis of breast cancer [4][5][6]14 .…”

“…It is, therefore, necessary to identify new biomarkers for it, in order to better predict the clinical outcomes, as well as to establish the most appropriate treatment for each patient. Recent researches have explored the possibility of using microRNAs (miRNAs) as diagnostic and/or prognostic biomarkers, since these molecules are implicated in the progression of breast cancer [4][5][6] .…”

Analysis of the Indicating Value of Cardiac Troponin I, Tumor Necrosis Factor-α, Interleukin-18, Mir-1 and Mir-146b for Viral Myocarditis among Children

“…MiRNA is involved in many biological processes in cells and its expression is associated with cancers and other diseases, such as enteroviral infections [32]. Furthermore, miRNA has been considered as a biomarker for diagnosing various diseases in clinical practices [33,34]. Since miRNAs are much shorter than proteins and mRNAs, detection of the miRNA concentration in serum is achieved by using techniques like RT-PCR.…”