Abstract
BACKGROUND: MicroRNA expression signatures can promote personalised care for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Our aim was to evaluate the previously unexplored prognostic potential of miR-197, a key oncogenic molecule for NSCLC. METHODS: Total RNA isolation (n=124 NSCLC and n=21 tumour-adjacent normal tissues), was performed using the QIAsymphony SP workstation. The quantity and quality of RNA were assessed by spectrophotometric analysis and an Agilent 2100 bioanalyzer. Polyadenylation and reverse transcription were subsequently carried out. MiR-197 expression levels were measured by qPCR, after quality control (inter-assay CV=7.8%). Internal validation procedures were followed by assigning training and test sets and robust biostatistical analyses were performed, including bootstrap resampling. RESULTS: MiR-197 is associated with larger tumours (P=0.042) and the squamous cell carcinoma histotype (P=0.032). Interestingly, after adjusting for important prognostic indicators, miR-197 expression was identified as a novel independent predictor of unfavourable prognosis for NSCLC patients (HR=1.97, 95% CI=1.10-3.38, P=0.013). We also demonstrate that miR-197 retains its prognostic performance in both early-stage I (P=0.045) and more advanced-stage individuals (P=0.036). CONCLUSIONS: The cost-effective expression analysis of miR-197 could constitute a novel molecular tool for NSCLC management.