miR-639 is associated with advanced cancer stages and promotes proliferation and migration of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

miR-639 is associated with advanced cancer stages and promotes proliferation and migration of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Oncol Lett. 2018 Dec;16(6):6903-6909 Authors: Wang YH, Yin YW, Zhou H, Cao YD Abstract Early detection of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is of vital importance for improving prognosis and survival rates. MicroRNA (miRNA) are a class of short and non-coding RNA molecules that are capable of inhibiting the translation of mRNA of target genes. Previous studies have revealed that miRNA are involved in tumorigenesis and cancer development. The RNase-resistance of circulating miRNA have made them valuable non-invasive biomarkers, and has therefore drawn particular attention to their therapeutic potential. The aim of the present study was to investigate the expression of the previously uncharacterized miR-639 in NPC. In a study population of 139 patients, higher expression of miR-639 was associated with metastasis, more advanced cancer stages, and lower disease-free survival rates. In vitro experiments involving transfection of human NPC C666-1 and NPC/HK1 cell lines with miR-639 mimics and antagomir indicated that overexpressing miR-639 promoted cell proliferation and migration, suppression of miR-639 inhibited proliferation and migration. The present study provides evidence that miR-639 is differentially expressed in NPC tissues of varying cancer stages, and suggests that quantifying circulating miR-639 may be of importa...
Source: Oncology Letters - Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: Oncol Lett Source Type: research