Expression of serum miR-221 in human hepatocellular carcinoma and its prognostic significance

To investigate whether the serum miR-221 expression correlates with clinicopathologic features and the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients.Four miRNAs (miR-221, miR-222, miR-21 and miR-224) related to HCC were selected in the present study. Serum miRNA expression was investigated in 46 HCC patients and 20 healthy normal controls by using real-time PCR technique, and then correlations between miR-221 expression and the clinicopathological features and prognosis of HCC patients were evaluated.The four miRNAs were found to be differentially overexpressed in HCC serum samples, and high level of miR-221 expression was correlated with tumor size (P<0.001), cirrhosis (P=0.003) and tumor stage (P=0.016). In addition, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the overall survival rate of the high miR-221 expression group (27.6%) was significantly lower than that of the low miR-221 expression group (62.3%, P<0.05).Serum miR-221, upregulated in HCC, can provide predictive significance for prognosis of HCC patients.