RESUMO
BACKGROUND/AIMS: MicroRNA (miRNA) regulates messenger RNA stability and translation. In cancer biology, miRNA affects the growth and metastasis of cancer cells by controlling epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). MiR-200 family (200a/200b/200c/141) and miR-205 are associated with the regulation of EMT. We investigated the prognostic role of EMT-related miRNAs in pancreatic cancer. METHODS: We analyzed miR-200 family and miR-205 expression in tissue samples of 84 patients who underwent radical resection for pancreatic cancer. RESULTS: Patients were followed from the date of diagnosis until death or censoring. The mean overall survival was 25.0+/-2.0 months (2-140 months). The R0 resection rate was obtained in 84.5% (n=71) of patients. The relative expressions of miR-200a/200b/200c/141 and miR-205 were 266.9+/-57.3/18.5+/-2.2/0.7+/-0.1/27.2+/-6.6 folds and 0.1+/-0.1 compared with human pancreatic ductal epithelial cells, respectively. Overall survival was longer in the low miR-200c expression group than in the high expression group (35 vs. 19 months, p=0.013). Multivariate analysis confirmed that patients with low miR-200c expression survived longer than the high expression group (hazard ratio, 1.771; 95% CI, 1.081-2.900; p=0.023). There was a trend toward longer disease-free survival in low miR-200c group without statistical significance (p=0.061). CONCLUSIONS: The expression of miR-200c may be an important prognosis factor in pancreatic cancer, and it could be a novel therapeutic target of pancreatic cancer.