Involvement of MicroRNA-198 Overexpression in the Poor Prognosis of Esophageal Cancer

Abstract

<br/><b>Objective</b>: This study aimed to investigate whether the miR-198 expression level is related to clinicopathologicalfactors and prognosis of esophageal cancer. <br/><b>Methods</b>: MicroRNA was extracted from esophageal cancer patientswho underwent surgery for assessment using the Taqman@ MicroRNA assay. The correlation between miR-198expression and clinicopathological features was analyzed, and the significance of miR-198 as a prognostic factorand its relationship with survival was determined. <br/><b>Results</b>: MicroRNA-198 (miR-198) expression was higher inpatients with poor prognosis than those with good prognosis (P < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier analysis results showedthat the miR-198 expression level had a significant correlation with survival time (P = 0.030) and that patientswith a higher expression of miR-198 had a shorter survival time. Cox multi-factor model analysis showed thatpatient prognosis (P = 0.014), tumor length (P = 0.040) and expression (P = 0.012), and survival time had asignificant correlation; the corresponding risks were 7.268, 1.246, and 3.524, respectively. <br/><b>Conclusion</b>: miR-198 overexpression is involved in the poor prognosis of esophageal cancer and can be used as a biomarker forselection of cases requiring especial attention.