RESUMO
Objective To explore the expression and clinical significance of microRNA-7 (miR-7) in serum of ovarian cancer patients.Methods Serum samples of 42 ovarian patients confirmed by pathological histology and 40 healthy women who underwent a physical exam were collected from January 2011 to January 2012 in the Sixth People's Hospital of Foshan Nanhai District of Guangdong Province.Expression levels of miR-7 in the serum samples of the two groups were examined using reverse transcription-real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).The relationship between the expression of miR-7 and the clinicopathologic feature of ovarian was analyzed.Results Compared with the controls,the expression of miR-7 in the serum of ovarian cancer patients was significantly reduced (0.246 ± 0.017 vs.0.488 ± 0.042),with a significant difference (t =11.23,P =0.01).The expression of miR-7 in the serum of ovarian cancer patients was related to the clinical stage (t =10.12,P =0.01),pathological type (t =6.90,P =0.02),differentiation degree (t =4.46,P =0.03),regional lymph node or distant metastasis (t =5.62,P =0.02),but it was not related to the age (t =0.03,P =0.83).The patients with high miR-7 expression had better overall survival than the patients with low miR-7 expression (36.7 months vs.24.3 months),with a significant difference (x2 =6.04,P =0.02).Conclusion The expression of miR-7 in serum of ovarian cancer patients is down regulated,which may be helpful for the overall assessment of ovarian carcinoma.miR-7 may be one of the important prognostic indicators for ovarian carcinoma.