miR-500a-3p is a Potential Prognostic Biomarker in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

PURPOSE: miR-500a-3p has been extensively reported to be implicated in the development and progression in several human cancer types. This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic and prognostic significance of miR-500a-3p as a biomarker in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: miR-500a-3p expression was evaluated by in situ hybridization (ISH) and real-time PCR in 10 adjacent normal tissues (ANT), 21 liver fibrosis tissues, and 110 HCC tissues. Statistical analysis was used to investigate the correlation of miR-500a-3p expression with clinicopathological features in HCC patients. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis was performed to evaluate the prognostic significance of miR-500a-3p in overall survival and recurrence-free survival in HCC patients. RESULTS: In this study, we found that expression levels of miR-500a-3p were enhanced in HCC tissues. High miR-500a-3p levels were positively correlated with multiple clinicopathological features, including advanced clinical stage, distant metastatic status, increased AFP levels and poor tumor differentiation degree. More importantly, high miR-500a-3p levels predicted poor overall survival and early recurrence in HCC patients. Finally, a strong and positive correlation of miR-500a-3p mRNA expression with ISH staining scores was observed in clinical HCC tissues. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that miR-500a-3p might be used as a novel biomarker to facilitate early diagnosis and predict prognosis in HCC patients.