Downregulation of serum miR-194 predicts poor prognosis in osteosarcoma patients

Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) have promising potential as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for osteosarcoma. This study aimed to explore the expression pattern of serum miR-194 and its potential clinical value in patients with osteosarcoma.

Messenger RNA was isolated from serum sample from 124 osteosarcoma patients, 60 periostitis patients and 60 healthy volunteers. The serum miR-194 level was then examined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The bioinformatic analysis of the downstream targets of miR-194 was also performed.

The results showed serum miR-194 levels were significantly decreased in osteosarcoma patients compared to those in periostitis patients or healthy controls. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis demonstrated that serum miR-194 had a good diagnostic value for identifying osteosarcoma subjects from periostitis patients and normal controls. In addition, serum miR-194 levels were dramatically increased following surgery in osteosarcoma cases. Moreover, low serum miR-194 expression was strongly correlated with positive metastasis and advanced clinical stage, as well as worse survival. Furthermore, serum miR-194 was confirmed to be an independent prognostic biomarker for osteosarcoma. Bioinformatic analysis showed that the downstream targeted genes of miR-194 were closely associated with cancer initiation and development.

In conclusion, our results have demonstrated that serum miR-194 might serve as a novel and promising biomarker for the detection and prognosis of osteosarcoma.