Serum microRNA profiles as novel biomarkers for the post-operative evaluation and survival of patients with glioblastoma multiform / 中国肿瘤临床

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the differentially expressed miRNAs in serum collected post operation and compared these miR-NAs with those collected pre-surgery among patients suffering from glioblastoma multiform (GBM) and undergoing regular clinical fol-low-up. These miRNAs may be potential biomarkers for the post-operative evaluation of patients with GBM. Methods:Forty-eight pa-tients with GBM and clinical pathological diagnosis were enrolled in this study. In the initial biomarker screening stage, total RNAs were extracted and subjected to Solexa sequencing to select miRNAs with significantly altered expression pre-and post-operation. Some of these differentially expressed miRNAs were chosen and verified through TaqMan probe-based qRT-PCR assay. A t-test was performed to determine the miRNAs that satisfied the two criteria, namely, fold change>2 and P<0.05. All of the patients were fol-lowed-up, and survival data were collected. The patients were then classified into two groups, namely, long-and short-survival groups, on the basis of the median of the miR-30e expression levels in the sera collected post-operation. Kaplan-Meier method and Log-rank test (SPSS version 19.0, IBM) were employed to determine the possible relationships between miR-30e expression levels in the sera collected post-operation and patients' overall survival. Results: Solexa revealed 63 differentially expressed miRNAs. Four miRNAs, namely, miR-26b, miR-30e, miR-129-3p, and miR-206, were selected on the basis of previous and present findings. These miRNAs were then verified in the RT-qPCR phase. Among these miRNAs, only miR-30e was significantly upregulated post-operation. The serum miR-30e expression level post-operation was not significantly associated with the overall survival of the patients. A low miR-30e expression level corresponded to prolonged survival. Conclusion:miR-30e was upregulated in the sera collected post-operation from patients with GBM. This miRNA may be negatively related to the tumor load of these patients. The miR-30e expression level in the serum col-lected post-surgery serum was not significantly associated with overall survival. Therefore, miR-30e may serve as a novel potential non-invasive biomarker for the post-operative evaluation of patients with GBM.