ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the expression of hsa-miR-144 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and its relationship with clinicopathological features and prognosis. Methods Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method was used to detect the hsa-miR-144 in 46 cases of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and adjacent normal tissue. The expression of hsa-miR-144 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and its difference in the clinicopatho?logical characteristics including gender, age, and tumor size were investigated. The relationship between the expression of hsa-miR-144 and prognosis of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma was analyzed. Kaplan-Meier method and Log-rank test were used to analyse the differences in survival rates in different pathological characteristics. Results The ex?pression level of hsa-miR-144 was lower in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma 0.97(0.22-24.48)×10-6 than that of adjacent normal tissue 8.60(0.09-258.20)×10-6, the difference was statistically significant (Z=2.221, P0.05). There was no correlation between the expression of hsa-miR-144 and prognosis in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcino?ma (rs=0.031, P=0.839). In the survival rate, there was no statistic significance between high expressive of hsa-miR-144 group and low expressive group (P=0.828). The survival rate was lower in patients with lymph node metastasis than that of pa?tients without lymph node metastasis. The survival rates were lower in patients with relatively deep invasion and higher patho?logic stage (P<0.05). Conclusion The expression of hsa-miR-144 is down regulated in esophageal squamous cell carcino?ma, and which is associated with lymph node metastasis and pathological staging of esophageal carcinoma. It shows that hsa-miR-144 may serve as an anti-oncogene in the occurrence and development of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.