TCGA RNA-seq data reaveals a five-microRNA signature for survival prognosis in pancreatic adenocarcinoma

Novel biomarkers for pancreatic adenocarcinoma are urgently needed because of its poor prognosis. Here, by using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) RNA-seq data, researchers from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology evaluated the prognostic values of the differentially expressed miRNAs and constructed a five-miRNA signature that could effectively predict patient overall survival (OS). The Kaplan-Meier overall survival curves of two groups based on the five miRNAs were notably different, showing overall survival in 10.2% and 47.8% at five years for patients in high-risk and low-risk groups, respectively. The ROC curve analysis achieved AUC of 0.775, showing good sensitivity and specificity of the five-miRNA signature model in predicting pancreatic adenocarcinoma patient survival risk. The functional enrichment analysis suggested that the target genes of the miRNA signature may be involved in various pathways related to cancer, including PI3K-Akt, TGF-β, and pluripotent stem cell signaling pathways. Finally, the researchers analyzed expression of the five specific miRNAs in the miRNA signature, and validated the reliability of the results in 20 newly diagnosed pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients using qRT-PCR. The expression results of qRT-PCR were consistent with the TCGA results. Taken together, these findings suggested that the five-miRNA signature (hsa-miR-203, hsa-miR-424, hsa-miR-1266 hsa-miR-1293, and hsa-miR-4772) could be used as a prognostic marker for pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

Prognostic evaluation of the five-miRNA signature in pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients

(A) The expression heatmap of 5 prognostic miRNAs. (B) Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis for overall survival of pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients using the five-miRNA signature. (C) ROC curve analysis of the five-miRNA signature.

Shi XH, Li X, Zhang H, He RZ, Zhao Y, Zhou M, Pan ST, Zhao CL, Feng YC, Wang M, Guo XJ, Qin RY. (2018) A Five-microRNA Signature for Survival Prognosis in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma based on TCGA Data. Sci Rep 8(1):7638. [article]