Reduced expression of Diceri is associated with poor prognosis in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma / 临床耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE@#Dicerl plays an important role in generation of microRNA, the purpose of this study was to evaluate Dicerl expression and its prognostic value in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).@*METHOD@#The protein expression of Dicerl was examined by immunohistochemistry in 276 NPC specimens, and the mRNA levels of Dicerl were analyzed by qRT-PCR in 56 NPC and 11 nasopharyngitis tissues. Cox regression analysis was used to identify independent prognostic factors, and a prognostic score model was constructed for survival prediction.@*RESULT@#Expression of Dicerl was downregulated in NPC tissues at both the mRNA and the protein levels, and there was a notable positive correlation between the expression levels of Dicerl mRNA and protein. Low Dicerl expression was positively correlated with distant metastasis (P<0. 01) and death (P<0. 05). In addition, low expression of Dicerl was significantly associated with poorer overall survival (HR = 2. 32, 95% CI 1. 30 ~ 4. 14, P<0. 01) and poorer distant metastasis-free survival (HR = 2. 56, 95% CI 1. 39 ~ 4. 74, P<0. 01). Furthermore, multivariate analysis showed that low expression of Dicerl and tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage were independent prognostic indicators for NPC patients. A prognostic score model combining the Dicerl expression and TNM stage had a better prognostic value than the TNM stage alone model or Dicer) expression alone model (P< 0. 05).@*CONCLUSION@#Dicerl was downregulated in NPC tissues at both the mRNA and the protein levels, and low expression of Dicerl could be served as novel prognostic biomarker for NPC patients.