Screening potential microRNAs associated with pancreatic cancer: Data mining based on RNA sequencing and microarrays

Pancreatic cancer is a malignant tumor of the digestive tract, rendering it difficult to make an accurate diagnosis. The 5 year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is <1%, and surgical resection rarely proves to be effective. Therefore, the identification of more effective methods for the early detection of pancreatic cancer is an urgent requirement. The present study aimed to explore key genes and microRNAs (miRNAs) associated with the pathogenesis of pancreatic cancer. Public databases were searched, and the data were integrated from The Cancer Genome Atlas and Gene Expression Omnibus databases, leading to the identification of 23 differentially expressed miRNAs (DE-miRNAs). A total of four of the DE-miRNAs were upregulated (hsa-miR-892b, hsa-miR-194-2, hsa-miR-200a and hsa-miR-194-1), whereas 19 downregulated DE-miRNAs (hsa-miR-424, hsa-miR-191, hsa-miR-484, hsa-miR-142, hsa-miR-15b, hsa-miR-450a-1, hsa-miR-423, hsa-miR-126, hsa-miR-505, hsa-miR-16-1, hsa-miR-342, hsa-miR-130a, hsa-miR-3613, hsa-miR-450a-2, hsa-miR-26b, hsa-miR-451, hsa-miR-19b-2, hsa-miR-106a and hsa-miR-503) were identified using the cut-off criteria of P<0.05 and |log 2FC|>1.0. Hsa-miR-3613-5p was identified as a prognostic DE-miRNA. The functional enrichment analyses demonstrated that the target genes of hsa-miR-3613-5p may be associated with the p53 signaling pathway. Survival analysis performed for genes in the p53 signaling pathway revealed that cyclin-dependent kinase 6 and ribonucleoside-diphosphate reductase subunit M2 may be the most likely to be associated with prognostic value. The integrated analysis performed in the current study demonstrated that hsa-miR-3613-5p may be used as a potential prognostic marker for pancreatic cancer.