Investigation of serum miR-411 as a diagnosis and prognosis biomarker for non-small cell lung cancer

OBJECTIVE: Biomarkers in blood have become increasingly appreciated in the diagnosis and prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The purpose of the current study was to explore potential diagnostic and prognostic value of serum miR-411 in NSCLC patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 153 patients with NSCLC and 75 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was performed to determine the expression level of serum miR-411 in NSCLC patients and healthy controls. The association of miR-411 expression with clinicopathological factors or the prognosis of NSCLC patients was also analyzed. Patient survival was determined by telephone interview, and survival curves were plotted by using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared by the Log-rank test. Receiver operating characteristic curves was used to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of serum miR-411. RESULTS: Our data showed that serum miR-411 levels were significantly greater in NSCLC patients than healthy controls (p < 0.001). High serum miR-411 expression was significantly associated with TNM stage (p = 0.018), lymph node status (p = 0.006) and differentiated degree (p < 0.015). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that high serum miR-411 expression levels predicted poor survival (p = 0.0053). The area under the curve (AUC) of high expression of serum miR-411 to diagnose NSCLC was 0.835 (95%Cl: 0.737-0.933, p<0.001). Univariate and multivariate analyses suggested that high expression of miR-411 was an independent poor prognostic indicator for NSCLC patients. CONCLUSIONS: The present results suggested that detection of serum miR-411 levels may have clinical potentials as a non-invasive diagnostic/prognostic biomarker for NSCLC patients.