ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in cellular processes such as growth, apoptosis, differentiation and proliferation verifies the importance of miRNAs in carcinogenesis. Moreover, levels of miRNAs are dysregulated in cancer cells, so they could be used as novel classes of biomarkers for diagnosing cancer. The oncogenic role of miR-106a and its increased expression have been demonstrated in some cancers. In contrast, there is no consensus for miR-9 expression rate in different cancers. Therefore, this study was done to investigate the role of miR-106a and miR-9 in gastric cancer (GC). METHODS: The current study was performed on 31 GC tissues as case, and 31 healthy adjacent tissues as a control group. Quantitative reverse transcriptase (q-RT) PCR was used for studying the expression rate of both miR-106a and miR-9. RESULTS: The expression rate of both miRNAs in cancerous tissues was significantly higher than healthy adjacent tissues (≈10 folds) (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that the expression rate of both markers was significantly increased in cancerous tissues. Therefore, they can be suggested as potential biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and prognosis as well as targets for therapy.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Gastric cancer (GC) is the fourth most common cancers and the second reason for cancer-related death around the world, particularly in East Asian countries. Diagnosing GC in its early stages is followed by more successful treatment. Unfortunately, there is no accurate method for GC diagnosis in its early stages. Recently, miRNAs have been investigated in the most cancer researches which have demonstrated that they have been dysregulated in many cancers. METHODS: This case-control study aims to investigate the expression rate of miR-22 and miR-20a in 32 cancerous tissues as well as 32 healthy adjacent tissues. Quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR (q-RT PCR) was used for investigating the expression rate of these miRNAs. RESULTS: The expression rate of miR-20a in cancerous tissues was significantly increased (8.9 times) in comparison with their healthy tissues (P<0.001), while the expression rate of miR-22 in cancerous tissues was significantly decreased (1.9 times) (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The obtained results suggest miR-22 and miR-20a as good diagnostic biomarkers for early detection of GC. However more research is needed to investigate their efficacy.
