Prognostic value of miR-378c in hepatocellular carcinoma and its regulatory effect on tumor progression.

[OBJECTIVE] This study aimed to explore the diagnostic and prognostic value of miR-378c in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients.

[METHODS] This study included 97 HCC patients, 84 cirrhosis patients and 80 healthy volunteers. Serum miR-378c of all subjects and HCC cell lines was detected by qRT-PCR, and ROC curves were plotted to assess the clinical diagnostic value of miR-378c for HCC. The prognostic performance of miR-378c in HCC was assessed using the Kaplan-Meyer method and COX regression analysis. CCK-8 test for proliferation of HCC cell lines. The migration and invasion of HCC cell lines were measured by Transwell assay. Bioinformatics analysis was employed to analyze the possible target genes of miR-378c.

[RESULTS] Serum miR-378c were remarkably lower in HCC patients than in cirrhosis patients and healthy controls ( < 0.001). ROC curves indicated that serum miR-378c could effectively distinguish HCC patients from healthy controls and cirrhotic patients. Among HCC patients, those with high miR-378c expression had higher cumulative survival ( = 0.001), and COX analysis identified miR-378c as an independent prognostic biomarker for HCC. Overexpression of miR-378c significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of MHCC97H and HepG2 cells ( < 0.01). Bioinformatics analysis of miR-378c target genes revealed that miR-378c target genes were enriched in tumor-associated pathways.

[CONCLUSION] Serum miR-378c expression is decreased in HCC patients and strongly connected with poor prognosis. As a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for HCC patients, it may provide new insights into the diagnosis and prognosis of HCC.