Feasibility of global microRNA analysis from fine-needle biopsy FFPE material in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma treated with sorafenib.

Sorafenib is the standard of care in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the median overall survival (OS) benefit is approximately three months, only, and sufficient biomarkers predicting treatment response are not available. Aim of the present study was to evaluate miRNA expression patterns from HCC tissue biopsies as potential biomarker in patients under sorafenib treatment. Nineteen patients with advanced HCC treated with sorafenib were included. RNA was extracted from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) liver biopsies. MiRNA expression profiling of 818 mature miRNAs was performed using GeneChipR miRNA Array 2.0 (Affymetrix). Global miRNA patterns were assessed using unsupervised hierarchical clustering (UCA) analysis and specific miRNAs with correlation to disease control rate (DCR) or good OS were evaluated by pairwise supervised analyses. UCA divided the patients in three distinct groups by their miRNA expression patterns. However, DCR or OS did not correlate with these sub-groups. We identified several miRNAs that correlated with either DCR or OS (p<0.05). However, with correction for multiple testing these results did not reach statistical significance in this small cohort. Global miRNA analysis from very low input RNA deriving from liver biopsies showed distinctive clustering of molecular subgroups in patients with intermediate and advanced HCC. Clinical response including OS under sorafenib did not correlate with global miRNA expr...
Source: Clinical Science - Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Source Type: research