Expression of Peripheral Blood miRNA-720 and miRNA-1246 Can Be Used as a Predictor for Outcome in Multiple Myeloma Patients.

OBJECTIVE: Multiple myeloma (MM) is a heterogeneous disorder, encompassing several related entities that share the common characteristic of being composed of monoclonal plasma cells (PCs). MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that control the expression of many target messenger RNAs involved in normal cell functions. Two serum microRNAs, miRNA-720 and miRNA-1246, were found to have potential as diagnostic biomarkers in myeloma. Therefore, we investigated a possible correlation of peripheral blood (PB) miRNA expression with diagnosis and prognosis.

METHODS: We measured the expression of PB miRNA-720 and miRNA-1246 in 60 newly diagnosed MM patients by quantitative real-time PCR analyses. And analysed the relationship about the expression levels of miRNAs with other clinical features.

RESULTS: The expression levels of PB miRNAs are significantly higher in myeloma patients compared to controls and do not change with age, gender, disease stage, hemoglobin, bone marrow PC percentage, β2 microglobulin, serum albumin, calcium serum, serum creatinine, and myeloma protein, and independent of the deletion of chromosome 13, suggesting that the expression levels of PB miRNA-720 and miRNA-1246 can be used as a diagnostic test for myeloma. We first discovered that increased expression of PB miRNA-720 and miRNA-1246 were associated with shorter progression-free survival, indicating poor prognosis.

CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrated that PB miRNA-720 and miRNA-1246 might act as a promoting factor in the development of MM and could be a diagnostic factor, therapeutic effect evaluator, and prognostic indicator in the prognosis of MM. The miRNAs have a significant value of appreciation of individual patients' behavior during the chemotherapy and evaluation the therapeutic strategies.