Association between miR-125a rs12976445 and survival in breast cancer patients

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) act as an oncogene or a tumor suppressor by negatively regulating target genes. Genetic variants in miRNA genes confer susceptibility to cancer and risk of death in cancer patients. The aim of this study was to investigate whether miRNA polymorphisms were associated with survival in breast cancer patients. Five miRNA polymorphisms (miR-26a1 rs7372209, miR-125a rs12976445, miR-218 rs11134527, miR-423 rs6505162, and miR-608 rs4919510) were genotyped in 196 breast cancer patients. We found that miR-125a rs12976445 was significantly associated with survival in codominant, recessive, and dominant models. However, only association under the codominant model remained significant after adjustment for lymph node metastasis, TNM stage, estrogen receptor, and progesterone receptor. Furthermore, this effect remained in stratification analysis. In conclusion, our results provide evidence that miR-125a rs12976445 may serve as a prognostic biomarker for breast cancer. Further large-scale studies are required to confirm these findings.