Abstract:

Objective To investigate the expression of miR-122 in hepatocellular carcinoma（HCC） and its correlation to serum levels of alpha-fetoprotein（AFP）. Methods The quantitative reverse transcriptionPCR was used to detect the expression of miR-122 in 78 cases of HCC， and the electrochemical immunoassay was used to detect the levels of AFP in serum before operation. Results In 78 patients of HCC， the expression of miR-122 in tumor tissues was（23.71±13.33）％； the expression in tissues of high and moderate differentiation was（26.90±13.64）％， higher than（16.54±9.40）％ in low differentiation tissues（P=0.001）. The mean serum AFP level was（741±382） ng／ml in those patients. The expression of miR122 in HCC was negatively correlated with serum AFP level（r=-0.863，P＜0.01）， but it was not correlated with gender， age, tumor size， lymph node metastasis， vascular invasion and stage. Conclusion miR-122 in HCC is negatively correlated with the serum AFP level， and is expressed lower in low differentiation tissues， which indicates that miR-122 is a potential prognostic factor.