Evaluation the Possibility of Using of miRNA-21 as a Prognostic and Predictive Factor in Colorectal Cancer (South Egypt Experience)

Background: Micro RNA 21 (miRNA-21) is overexpressed in numerous solid types of tumors, indicating that its biology is relevant to numerous types of cancer. However, in Colorectal Cancer (CRC) there is a lot of studies confirmed its use as diagnostic marker, other studies suggested it could be used as a predictive marker for 5 Fu sensitivity so this study was conducted to verified the significance of using miRNA-21 as a prognostic and predictive factor in CRC. Patients and Methods: It is a prospective study that included 45 patients with stage I-IV CRC who attended at South Egypt Cancer Institute from April 2017 to October 2018. miRNA-21 was measured by (q PCR) from peripheral blood. Response to 5-FU containing regimens was assessed using RECIST criteria and its levels of expression were correlated to the clincopathological data, response and survival of the patients. Results: High expression of the miRNA21 was significantly associated with advanced stage of CRC p 0.001, Lymph Node (LN) invasion p 0.001,distant metastasis p 0.01 lymphovascular (LVI) invasion p 0.01 and pre-treatment level of Carcino Embryonic Antigen (CEA) p 0.031. Also we found that high expression level significantly badly affected the response to 5-Fu containing regimen p 0.001, DFS p 0.01. Conclusion: miRNA-21 could be used as non-invasive prognostic and predictive marker in CRC.