The serum miR-21 level serves as a predictor for the chemosensitivity of advanced pancreatic cancer, and miR-21 expression confers chemoresistance by targeting FasL.

ABSTRACT: miR-21 expression in cancer tissue has been reported to be associated with the clinical outcome and activity of gemcitabine in pancreatic cancer. However, resection is possible in only a minority of patients due to the advanced stages often present at the time of diagnosis, and safely obtaining sufficient quantities of pancreatic tumor tissue for molecular analysis is difficult at the unresectable stages. In this study, we investigated whether the serum level of miR-21 could be used as a predictor of chemosensitivity. We tested the levels of serum miR-21 in a cohort of 177 cases of advanced pancreatic cancer who received gemcitabine-based palliative chemotherapy. We found that a high level of miR-21 in the serum was significantly correlated with a shortened time-to-progression (TTP) and a

SUBMITTER: Wang P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5528497 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature