Serum expression and significance of MicroRNA-30d-5p in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

This study was aimed to assess serum microRNA-30d-5p (miR-30d-5p) expression in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma before and after operation, exploring its associations with clinical pathological parameters. A total of 30 esophageal cancer patients who underwent radical resection and were pathologically confirmed with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, from April to May in 2013, were enrolled, alongside 19 healthy controls. The expression levels of miRNA in serum from patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma before and after operation were assessed by microarrays and real-time PCR (RT-PCR). The associations of miR-30d-5p expression with clinical pathological parameters were determined. Serum hsa-miR-30d-5p levels in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (study group) were significantly associated with the tumor depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, tumor location and length, histopathological type and degree of differentiation, as well as history of smoking and drinking (P<0.05). Moreover, changes of serum miRNA levels were more prominent than that of thymidine kinase 1 (TK1). There were significant differences in hsa-miR-30d-5p expression levels between the study and control groups (<0.05). These results indicated that microRNA-30d-5p is a potential marker of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, with high expression having a certain promoting role in the occurrence and development of esophageal cancer.