microRNA-141 as a diagnostic and prognos- tic biomarker for prostate cancer in Egyptian population: Pilot study

Abstract

Introduction: microRNAs are a family of small non protein-coding RNAs. They are involved in posttranscriptional gene regulation of their target genes. The deregulation of microRNAs has been linked to cancer development and tumor progression. The aim of out study was to look for microRNA-141 as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for prostate cancer.
Patients and methods: The study prospectively recruited 30 patients newly diagnosed with prostate cancer; including 13 and 17 patients without and with metastases, respectively. Another 30 patients without prostate cancer diagnosis were included as a control group. Real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis was done for relative quantification of microRNA-141.
Results: The present study showed that microRNA-141 was significantly upregulated in cancerous patients compared to control group. Also it was significantly upregulated in patients with metastatic disease compared to non-metastatic patients. Moreover, it was significantly correlating with serum PSA and Gleason score.
Conclusion: Serum microRNA-141 could be a promising diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for prostate cancer and a good indicative of disease aggressiveness.