MicroRNA Profiling in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer and its Implications for the Disease Pathogenesis

Background: Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Despite the progression in screening and diagnostic methods, the prevalence and mortality rates of this cancer have not decreased in recent decades. Recent evidence has implied the possible roles of miR-212, miR-124a, miR-125b, miR-27a, and miR-133b in carcinogenesis process. Hence, we examined the changes in the expression level of these microRNAs (miRNAs) during carcinogenesis determined the possible application of these factors as diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: 50 NSCLC patients participated in this descriptive case-control study. During bronchoscopy, we collected their tumor and adjacent normal tumor-free tissues. We further extracted the total RNA from the cells, synthetized cDNA, and examined the expression level of target miRNAs by quantitative real-time PCR. Subsequently, we analyzed the expression levels of these genes and their correlation with clinico- pathologic features of patients. Results: The output data of our study showed a statistically significant deregulation in miR-212 (P= 0.002), miR-124a (P=0.001), miR-125b (P= 0.023), miR-27a (P=0.012), and miR-133b (P= 0.05). Moreover, the expression levels of these miRNAs had significant correlations with metastasis, lymph node involvement, tumor cell differ- entiation degree, and tumor size of NSCLC patients. Conclusion: All of the studied miRNAs could potentially be used as diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers.