Background and purpose: Ovarian cancer (OC) is one of the most fatal malignancies in women. High mortality rate may be due to problems with diagnosis in the early stages. The use of new biomarkers for faster diagnosis and selection of more efficient therapies is one of the main concerns in this area. miRNAs are non-coding and conserved molecules that are involved in regulating gene expression throughout different cell processes. Few studies have been conducted on the effects of miR-4443 and miR-5195-3p in cancer. Therefore, to determine the role of these miRNAs in OC, this study was directed to investigate the expression rate in OC tissue samples and its relationship with clinical factors.
Methods: Expression levels of miR-4443 and miR-5195 were evaluated in 45 ovarian tumor and 45 ovarian non-tumor tissue samples paraffin embedded using qPCR. Expression was investigated by miRNA-specific primers and then statistical analysis was performed to determine the significance. In the next step, the relationship between clinopathologic factors and miRNA expression was investigated.
Results: The results showed that miR-4443 decreased in OC in metastatic and serous OC samples (0.154-fold, P < 0.0001). As well as, significant reduction in miR-5195-3p was observed in cancer samples (0.373-fold, P < 0.0001) and its reduction was associated with metastasis.
Conclusion: As a result, the two studied miRNAs may contribute to suppressing tumor, so that decrease in their expression is associated with increased cell proliferation and invasion. Further investigation can help to suggest these miRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers or therapeutic targets in OC.
Keywords: Metastasis; Ovarian cancer; miR-4443; miR-5195-3p.