Correlation analysis on the expression levels of microRNA-23a and microRNA-23b and the incidence and prognosis of ovarian cancer

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the expression levels of microRNA (miR)-23a and miR-23b in the tumor tissues of patients with ovarian cancer. The study also explored the correlation of miR-23a and miR-23b expression levels in the tumor tissues with the clinic-pathological parameters and prognosis of the patients. Specimens of frozen tumor tissues and normal tissues adjacent to the tumor were collected from 50 patients with ovarian cancer. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction was adopted to detect the expression levels of miR-23a and miR-23b in tumor tissues. Furthermore, normal tissues adjacent to the tumor were utilized as the control for the experiments and Pearson method was used to analyze the correlation between miR-23a and miR-23b expression levels in tumor tissues. The correlation of miR-23a and miR-23 expression in tumor tissues and the prognosis of the patients with ovarian cancer was analyzed in combination with clinical data. The expression of miR-23a in the tissues of ovarian cancer was significantly higher in comparison with normal adjacent tissues. However, the expression of miR-23b in the tissues of ovarian cancer was significantly lower when compared with adjacent normal tissues. Notably, the expression of miR-23a was negatively correlated with that of miR-23b in tumor tissues of ovarian cancer. The high expression of miR-23a and the low expression of miR-23b in tumor tissues of the patients was correlated with the degree of tumor differentiation, metastasis of lymph nodes and clinical staging. The five-year overall survival rate of the patients was 36% (18/50). Univariate survival analysis indicated that miR-23a and miR-23b were the factors influencing the overall survival rate of ovarian cancer. The present findings suggest that high expression of miR-23a and the low expression of miR-23b are closely correlated with the occurrence and development of ovarian cancer. The abnormal expression of the miR-23a and miR-23b could be utilized as potential prognostic molecular markers of ovarian cancer.