Analysis of the differential expression and prognostic relationship of microRNAs in hepatocellular carcinoma based on TCGA database

Objective To investigate the differential expression of miRNAs in hepatocellular carcinoma and to establish a correlation between differential expression of miRNA and prognosis of liver cancer. Methods The miRNA expression of liver cancer samples and clinical data of liver cancer were extracted from TCGA database.According to the normal tissue and tumor tissue, the miRNA expression levels of the two groups were compared by the edgeR algorithm.Survival analysis was performed by combining differential miRNAs with clinical survival time to find miRNAs that have an impact on the prognosis of liver cancer. Results A total of 247 differentially expressed miRNAs were found in HCC tissues compared with normal tissues(P<0.01). Survival analysis revealed that 17 differential miRNAs were associated with prognosis(P<0.05). Cox multivariate analysis revealed miRNA-30d and miRNA-939.miRNA-188 and miRNA-5003 were associated with survival time of patients with liver cancer(P<0.05), and the difference was statistically significant. Conclusion miRNA-30d, miRNA-939, miRNA-188 and miRNA-5003 are differentially expressed in liver tumor tissues compared with normal tissues and prognosis of liver cancer.It is useful for the study of miRNA in the field of liver cancer. Key words: Hepatocellular carcinoma; miRNA; TCGA database