MicroRNA-203 down-regulation is associated with unfavorable prognosis in human glioma.

MicroRNA-203 (miR-203) serves as a tumor suppressor or a tumor promoter in different human malignancies. However, its involvement in human gliomas is still unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical significance of miR-203 expression in gliomas. Real-time quantitative PCR was employed to measure the expression level of miR-203 in clinical glioma tissues. The expression of miR-203 was reduced in high WHO grade glioma tissues compared with that in low WHO grade and normal brain tissues, and decreased with ascending tumor WHO grades (P < 0.001). The reduced miR-203 expression in gliomas was significantly associated with higher WHO grade (P < 0.001), lower KPS score (P = 0.008) and poorer disease-specific survival of patients (P = 0.001). More importantly, subgroup analyses according to tumor WHO grade revealed that the disease-specific survival of patients with low miR-203 expression in high WHO grades (III-IV) subgroup was significantly shorter than those with high miR-203 expression (P < 0.001), but no significant difference was found for patients in WHO grades I-II subgroup (P = 0.08). Our data validate an important clinical significance of miR-203 in gliomas, and reveal that it might be an intrinsic regulator of tumor progression and a potential prognostic factor for this dismal disease.

He J ，Deng Y ，Yang G ，Xie W ... -  《-》

Correlation of microRNA-375 downregulation with unfavorable clinical outcome of patients with glioma.

MicroRNA-375 (miR-375) is frequently demonstrated to be frequently dysregulated and functions as a tumor suppressor or an oncogene in different cancer types. However, its roles in human gliomas have not been reported. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression pattern and clinical significance of miR-375 in patients with gliomas. Real-time quantitative RT-PCR assay was performed to detect miR-375 expression in human gliomas and non-neoplastic brain tissues. Then, the association of miR-375 expression with clinicopathological factors and prognosis of glioma patients was also statistically analyzed. miR-375 expression was significantly decreased on average in glioma tissues relative to non-neoplastic brain tissues (P<0.0001) with ascending pathological grade. Then, the low miR-375 expression in glioma tissues was significantly associated with advanced pathological grade (P=0.003) and low Karnofsky performance score (KPS, P=0.01). Moreover, both univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses determined that loss of miR-375 expression effectively predicted the decreased overall survival in patients with gliomas. These findings offer the first convinced evidence that the downregulation of miR-375 expression in human gliomas may play an inhibitory role during the tumor development. This miRNA might function as a candidate unfavorable prognostic marker for human gliomas.

Chang C ，Shi H ，Wang C ，Wang J ，Geng N ，Jiang X ，Wang X ... -  《-》

Identification of microRNA-205 as a potential prognostic indicator for human glioma.

Altered microRNA-205 (miR-205) expression has been found in glioma tissue samples and cell lines; however, the clinical significance of this is unclear. The aim of this study was to confirm the miR-205 expression pattern in human glioma and to investigate its clinical relevance. Quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction assays showed that miR-205 expression was significantly lower in glioma tissues than in non-neoplastic brain tissues (P<0.001). Statistical analysis revealed a significant correlation between low miR-205 expression and both high grade glioma (World Health Organization [WHO] criteria, P=0.008) and a low Karnofsky performance status score (P=0.02). Survival analysis demonstrated that the cumulative 5-year overall survival rate of patients with glioma in the high miR-205 expression group was significantly higher than that in the low miR-205 expression group (P<0.001). Multivariate Cox regression analysis further indicated that miR-205 expression (P=0.01) and WHO grade (P=0.01) were independent prognostic indicators of the overall survival of patients with glioma. Moreover, subgroup analyses revealed that the cumulative 5-year overall survival rate of patients with high grade (III-IV) glioma was significantly worse for the low miR-205 expression group than for the high miR-205 expression group (P<0.001), but no significant difference was found for patients with low grade (I-II) glioma (P=0.09). In conclusion, down-regulation of miR-205 was associated with glioma progression. Our data are the first to suggest that miR-205 holds potential as a prognostic factor for glioma, especially for patients with advanced disease.

Hou SX ，Ding BJ ，Li HZ ，Wang L ，Xia F ，Du F ，Liu LJ ，Liu YH ，Liu XD ，Jia JF ，Li L ，Wu ZL ，Zhao G ，Zhang ZG ，Deng YC ... -  《-》

Concomitant microRNA-31 downregulation and radixin upregulation predicts advanced tumor progression and unfavorable prognosis in patients with gliomas.

To clarify the clinical significance of microRNA-31 (miR-31) and radixin (RDX) in human glioma. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis was used to characterize the expression patterns of miR-31 and RDX mRNA in 108 glioma and 20 normal brain tissues. The associations of miR-31 and RDX mRNA expressions with clinicopathologic factors and prognosis of glioma patients were also statistically analyzed. The expression levels of miR-31 in glioma tissues were significantly lower than those in normal brain tissues (P<0.001), while RDX mRNA was significantly overexpressed in glioma tissues compared with normal brain tissues (P<0.001). There was a negative correlation between miR-31 and RDX mRNA expression in glioma tissues (r=-0.69, P=0.01). Additionally, concomitant miR-31 downregulation and RDX upregulation (miR-31-low/RDX-high) was significantly associated with advanced pathological grade (P=0.001) and low Karnofsky performance score (P=0.01). Moreover, Kaplan-Meier survival and Cox regression analyses showed that the glioma patients with miR-31-low/RDX-high expression had poorest overall survival (P<0.001) and conjoined expression of miR-31-low/RDX-high was an independent prognostic indicator of glioma (P=0.01). Furthermore, subgroup analyses showed that miR-31-low/RDX-high expression was significantly associated with poor overall survival in glioma patients with high pathological grades (for grade III-IV: P<0.001). Our findings have implications concerning the importance of concomitant miR-31 downregulation and RDX upregulation in tumor progression and poor prognosis of patients with gliomas. A combined detection of miR-31/RDX expression may benefit us in predicting clinical outcomes of glioma patients with high pathological grades.

Wang S ，Jiao B ，Geng S ，Song J ，Liang Z ，Lu S ... -  《-》

Up-regulation of microRNA-15b correlates with unfavorable prognosis and malignant progression of human glioma.

Pang C ，Guan Y ，Zhao K ，Chen L ，Bao Y ，Cui R ，Li G ，Wang Y ... -  《International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Pathology》