High expression of miR-17-5p and miR-20a-5p predicts favorable disease-specific survival in stage I-III colon cancer

In many types of cancer, microRNAs (miRs) are aberrantly expressed. The aim of this study was to explore the prognostic impact of miR-17-5p and miR-20a-5p in colon cancer. Tumor tissue from 452 stage I-III colon cancer patients was retrospectively collected and tissue microarrays constructed. miR-17-5p and miR-20a-5p expression was evaluated by in situ hybridization and analyzed using digital pathology. Cell line experiments, using HT-29 and CACO-2, were performed to assess the effect of miR-17-5p and miR-20a-5p over expression on viability, invasion and migration. In multivariate analyses, high miR-17-5p expression in tumor (HR = 0.43, CI 0.26–0.71, p < 0.001) and high expression of miR-20a-5p in tumor (HR = 0.60, CI 0.37–0.97, p = 0.037) and stroma (HR = 0.63, CI 0.42–0.95, p = 0.027) remained independent predictors of improved disease-specific survival. In cell lines, over expression of both miRs resulted in mitigated migration without any significant effect on viability or invasion. In conclusion, in stage I-III colon cancer, high expression of both miR-17-5p and miR-20a-5p are independent predictors of favorable prognosis.