Expression of miRNA-26b in the diagnosis and prognosis of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer

Objective: To investigate the correlation between miR-26b and non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Materials & methods: NSCLC tissues and normal lung tissues that were more than 7 cm adjacent from tumor were collected from 154 NSCLC patients. Additionally, 63 normal specimens from benign lung disease were selected as the control group. Real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR was used to detect miR-26b expression in tissues. Result: miR-26b expression in NSCLC tissues was significantly lower than in other two types of tissues. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the area under the curve was 0.856 with sensitivity and specificity of 79.9 and 79.4%, respectively. miR-26b expression was a risk factor for poor prognosis of NSCLC. Conclusion: The expression of miR-26b is downregulated in NSCLC tissues, and it might be useful in the diagnosis and prognosis of NSCLC patients.