Circulating miR-214-3p predicts nasopharyngeal carcinoma recurrence or metastasis

Due to the remarkably stable form in the bloodstream, circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) are indicated as promising novel minimally invasive biomarkers in many cancers. However, available data of miRNAs in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) are relatively limited.

Based on the GEO database and previous published reports, 21 dysregulated miRNAs were selected for screening via microarray analysis (20 NPC samples vs 10 controls). Dysregulated miRNAs were then detected and verified by the method of quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) in the training and validation sets. The candidate miR-214-3p was then evaluated in the evaluation set, including the association between miR-214-3p and clinicopathological characteristics, dynamic changes in NPC patients and the predictive value for NPC recurrence or metastasis.

Seven miRNAs were significantly altered in comparison with healthy controls by microarray analysis. MiR-214-3p was the most significantly expressed in training and validation sets by qRT-PCR. Plasma miR-214-3p expressions were significantly associated with UICC stages and NPC recurrence or metastasis. Plasma miR-214-3p expressions showed a gradual decrease during the follow-up after treatment in NPC patients. Patients with recurrence or metastasis were always accompanied with higher levels of plasma miR-214-3p at the same time point. High pretreatment miR-214-3p expression (≥3.12) was significantly associated with NPC recurrence or metastasis by log-rank test using Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis (P = 0.006).

Circulating miR-214-3p can serve as a noninvasive biomarker for the prediction of recurrence or metastasis in NPC patients.