Prognostic significance of serum microRNA-221 expression in human epithelial ovarian cancer

Objective To evaluate the feasibility of using serum microRNA (miR)-221 as a noninvasive diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC).Methods In this retrospective study, real-time reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction was used to measure miR-221 expression in serum samples from patients with EOC and healthy age-matched controls. Correlations between serum miR-221 levels and clinicopathological factors and prognosis were explored.Results Serum miR-221 was upregulated in patients with EOC ( n = 96) compared with healthy controls ( n = 35). The level of serum miR-221 expression was significantly associated with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage, and tumour grade. Furthermore, multivariate analysis of overall survival showed that high serum miR-221 expression was an independent unfavourable prognostic factor in EOC.Conclusions These findings indicate that serum miR-221 may have a role as a novel diagnostic and prognostic marker, and may have potential as a therapeutic target in EOC.