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Updated: Oct 12, 2025
Generation and Expansion of Primary, Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma Tumor Lines
Published on: April 21, 2022
BRCA-associated protein 1 (BAP1) and miR-31 combination predicts outcomes in epithelioid malignant pleural
Albero Murrone1, Luca Cantini1, Federica Pecci1
1Clinic Oncology, University Hospital-Marche Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy.
Background:
Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive disease, with few available treatment options. Identification of novel prognostic and predictive biomarkers is a priority. In MPM patients, BRCA-associated protein 1 (BAP1) alterations are detected in about 60% of cases and miR-31 seems to be involved in BAP1 regulation at post-transcriptional level. The aim of this study was to evaluate the interaction between BAP1 and miR-31 in MPM and their prognostic role in MPM.
Methods:
The expression of BAP1 and miR-31 was analyzed in tissues of 55 MPM patients treated with first-line chemotherapy. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were assessed by Kaplan-Meier method and Log-rank test was used to investigate differences among subgroups. Multivariate Cox regression analysis was used to evaluate independent predictors of survival.
Results:
In the whole cohort, loss of BAP1 was associated with a significant improvement in OS, but not in PFS. Lower miR-31 levels were detected in epithelioid MPM (e-MPM) compared to the non-epithelioid subtypes and resulted associated with BAP1 loss. By looking at the e-MPM subgroup, loss of BAP1 was not able to predict clinical outcome. Conversely, miR-31 levels were significantly associated with PFS (P=0.028), but not with OS (P=0.059). By combining the two biomarkers, e-MPM patients with BAP1 loss/low miR-31 levels showed a better prognosis compared to the ones with BAP1 retained/high miR-31 levels (median OS 22.6 vs. 17.0 months, P=0.017 and median PFS 8.7 vs. 5.1 months, P=0.020). The BAP1 and miR-31 combination was confirmed at multivariate analysis as an independent prognostic factor for e-MPM patients.
Conclusions:
In this preliminary study, we found that the prognostic stratification of e-MPM patients may be improved by simultaneously assessing of BAP1 status and miR-31 levels. The two-biomarker score is useful to identify a subgroup of e-MPM tumors characterized by BAP1 retained and high miR-31 levels with worse clinical outcome.
Insights
Assessing BRCA-associated protein 1 (BAP1) status and miR-31 levels together improves prognostic stratification for epithelioid malignant pleural mesothelioma (e-MPM) patients. This two-biomarker score identifies e-MPM with worse outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Molecular Biology
- Biomarker Research
Background:
- Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive cancer with limited treatment options.
- BRCA-associated protein 1 (BAP1) alterations occur in ~60% of MPM cases.
- miR-31 is implicated in BAP1 regulation, suggesting a potential interaction.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the interaction between BAP1 and miR-31 in MPM.
- To evaluate the prognostic role of BAP1 and miR-31 in MPM patients.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of BAP1 and miR-31 expression in 55 MPM patient tissues.
- Assessment of overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) using Kaplan-Meier and Log-rank tests.
- Multivariate Cox regression analysis for independent predictor evaluation.
Main Results:
- BAP1 loss correlated with improved OS but not PFS in the overall cohort.
- Lower miR-31 levels were associated with BAP1 loss and non-epithelioid subtypes.
- In epithelioid MPM (e-MPM), a combined BAP1/miR-31 score independently predicted prognosis, identifying a subgroup with worse outcomes (median OS 22.6 vs. 17.0 months).
Conclusions:
- Simultaneous assessment of BAP1 status and miR-31 levels enhances prognostic stratification for e-MPM.
- A two-biomarker score can identify e-MPM with BAP1 retention and high miR-31, indicating a poorer clinical outcome.
