Involvement of microRNA-198 overexpression in the poor prognosis of esophageal cancer.

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to investigate whether the miR-198 expression level is related to clinicopathological factors and prognosis of esophageal cancer. METHODS MicroRNA was extracted from esophageal cancer patients who underwent surgery for assessment using the Taqman@ MicroRNA assay. The correlation between miR-198 expression and clinicopathological features was analyzed, and the significance of miR-198 as a prognostic factor and its relationship with survival was determined. RESULTS MicroRNA-198 (miR-198) expression was higher in patients with poor prognosis than those with good prognosis (P < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier analysis results showed that the miR-198 expression level had a significant correlation with survival time (P = 0.030) and that patients with a higher expression of miR-198 had a shorter survival time. Cox multi-factor model analysis showed that patient prognosis (P = 0.014), tumor length (P = 0.040) and expression (P = 0.012), and survival time had a significant correlation; the corresponding risks were 7.268, 1.246, and 3.524, respectively. CONCLUSION miR- 198 overexpression is involved in the poor prognosis of esophageal cancer and can be used as a biomarker for selection of cases requiring especial attention.