Expression of MMP9, SERPINE1 and miR-134 as prognostic factors in esophageal cancer

Abstract

Esophageal cancer (EC) is a malignant tumor with a typically poor prognosis for patients. It is well known that certain microRNA (miRNA/miR) genes can regulate other genes responsible for carcinogenesis. In the present study, a group of these genes (miR‑21, miR‑134, miR‑205 and miR‑495) and genes connected with cancer‑related pathways (MET, MMP9, PDGFA and SERPINE1) were chosen for analysis in order to find a potential correlation between their expression and the clinicopathological factors of EC. Esophageal tumors and adjacent non‑cancerous tissue specimens were collected from a total of 63 patients and embedded in paraffin. Commercial arrays were used on KYSE‑30, KYSE‑150 and KYSE‑270 EC cell lines in order to find genes of different expression profiles compared with those acquired from the control Het‑1A cell line. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used on formalin‑fixed, paraffin‑embedded samples in order to analyze the expression of the genes chosen in the earlier step. The results were analyzed by the Kruskal‑Wallis and Mann‑Whitney U tests, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, Kaplan‑Meier methods and the long‑rank test. Only miR‑495 was not expressed in the analyzed samples. The expression of MMP9 and SERPINE1 was significantly coefficient with age range (P=0.011 and P=0.044, respectively) according to the Kruskal‑Wallis test. The Spearman's rank‑order correlation measurement showed that there was a coefficient correlation between age and miR‑134 expression. The same measurement demonstrated a correlation between age range and MMP9 expression. The expression of miR‑134 and MMP9 were also found to be correlated. In all cases, a value of P<0.049 was recorded. Overall, the present study demonstrated that MMP9, SERPINE1 and miR‑134 were the most prognostic genes in Caucasian patients with EC.