Relationship between altered expression levels of MIR21, MIR143, MIR145, and MIR205 and clinicopathologic features of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

In spite of the undisputed importance of altered expression patterns of microRNAs (miRNAs) in various cancers, there is little information on the clinicopathologic significance of cancer-related miRNAs (MIR21, MIR143, MIR144, MIR145, and MIR205) in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). We examined the expression levels of the precursor and mature miRNA genes in ESCC using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). We also investigated the mRNA expression levels of processing elements (RNASEN, DGCR8, and DICER1) that participate in miRNA-biogenesis pathway. Furthermore, we analyzed the relationships between the expression levels of these five miRNAs and the clinicopathologic parameters of ESCC patients. The expression levels of mature MIR21 and mature MIR145 were higher in ESCC than those in normal epithelium (P < 0.05). The mature/pre ratio of MIR21 in ESCC was higher than that in normal epithelium (P < 0.05). With regard to miRNA-processing elements, the expression level of RNASEN was higher in ESCC than in normal epithelium (P < 0.05). Furthermore, altered expression of these miRNAs was related to the clinicopathologic features of ESCC patients. The high expression of mature MIR21 and mature MIR205 was associated with lymph node positivity in ESCC patients (P < 0.05). The high levels of expression of mature MIR143 and mature MIR145 were associated with recurrence of metastasis in ESCC patients (P < 0.05). The findings may imply that miRNA biogenesis is aberrantly accelerated in ESCC. Analysis of the expression levels of miRNAs should provide useful information for evaluation of the staging, prognosis, and treatment of ESCC patients.