miR-497 as a potential serum biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of osteosarcoma

The aim of this manuscript is to analyze the diagnostic and prognostic value of circulating miR-497 in the plasma of patients with osteosarcoma.

Serum miR-497 expression levels were measured by quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Correlations between miR-497 expression and the clinicopathological features and prognosis of osteosarcoma patients were then evaluated. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) and the area under the curve (AUC) were used to evaluate diagnostic accuracy.

Our data showed that serum miR-497 expression was down-regulated in osteosarcoma patients compared with the matched healthy controls (p < 0.001). Then, low miR-497 expression was significantly associated with clinical stage (p = 0.001), distant metastasis (p = 0.001) and response to chemotherapy (p = 0.007). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis of the accuracy in distinguishing osteosarcoma patients from healthy controls yielded an area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.848 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.773-0.923). Kaplan-Meier analysis results showed that patients with lower expression of miR-497 had shorter survival times (p < 0.001). Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that the miR-497 expression level and various clinicopathological features were independent prognostic parameters.

Our data showed that low serum miR-497 level was correlated with aggressive progression and poor prognosis of osteosarcoma. Serum miR-497 may be a potential biomarker for early detection and clinical evaluation in patients with osteosarcoma.