EVALUATION OF -MIR-492 EXPRESSION AS A BIOMARKER IN FORMALIN FIXED PARAFFIN EMBEDDED TISSUES OF BREAST AND OVARIAN CANCER AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH CLINICAL FACTORS: A CASE-CONTROL STUDY

Breast and ovarian cancer are the most common types of malignancy and the leading cause of death in females around the world. The incidence of these cancers has been experiencing a significant rise in recent years. Increasing evidence indicated that some miRNAs act as either tumor suppressors or promoters in the development of various cancers. However, the relationship between breast and ovarian cancer and the expression of miR-492 has not yet been elucidated. In this study, we explored the role of miR-492 in breast and ovarian cancer.

In the present study, 40 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumoral tissues and 40 non-tumoral tissues of breast and ovarian cancers were selected to evaluate gene expression. Then, the informed consent letters were collected and clinical information for all samples were completed. Total RNA was extracted and complementary DNA was synthesized, afterward, the relative gene expression was determined using a quantitative real-time RT PCR method and evaluated by the 2-ΔΔct method. Finally, the expression pattern was analyzed by statistical analysis.

The results of the changes in the expression of miR-492 showed that in tumoral samples, the expression of miR-492 increased significantly (P=0.0001). On the other hand, there was no significant relationship between gene expression and tumor grade (p>0.05). There was also a clear increase in the gene expression in the metastatic tumors. In breast cancer, unlike ovarian cancer, there was no statistically significant difference between the two age groups. In addition, a specific increase was observed in the gene expression in the metastatic state in ovarian tumors. The tumor position did not affect the level of miR-492 expression in ovarian cancer.

Taken together, the data indicate that miR-492 is an important regulator in cancer cell biological processes. Furthermore, we showed that miR-492 with diagnostic and prognostic ability can be a promising novel therapeutic target and biomarker for breast and ovarian cancer.