Diminished expression of MiR-15a is an independent prognostic marker for breast cancer cases.

Background/aim: MiR-15a targets Cyclin E1 (CCNE1), which regulates the cell cycle and promotes cell proliferation and progression. Herein, we investigated the clinicopathological significance of miR-15a as a prognostic marker in breast cancer (BC) cases.

Materials And Methods: We collected primary tumor samples of 230 BC cases, including 68 triple-negative cases. The expression levels of miR-15a in primary tumors were measured by qRT-PCR assay.

Results: Low expression of miR-15a in primary tumors was significantly correlated with shorter disease-free survival (p=0.0012) and overall survival (p=0.005) compared to the high miR-15a expression in triple-negative BC cases. Multivariate analysis indicated that low miR-15a expression was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival [RR=2.56(1.03-7.18), p=0.04].

Conclusion: MiR-15a expression levels could be a promising biological and prognostic marker for overall survival especially in triple-negative BC cases.