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Comparison of microRNA expression levels between initial and recurrent glioblastoma specimens

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Abstract

Glioblastoma is the most frequent primary brain tumour in adults. Recent therapeutic advances increased patient's survival, but tumour recurrence inevitably occurs. The pathobiological mechanisms involved in glioblastoma recurrence are still unclear. MicroRNAs are small RNAs proposed o have important roles for cancer including proliferation, aggressiveness and metastases development. There exist only few data on the involvement of microRNAs in glioblastoma recurrence. We selected the following 7 microRNAs with potential relevance for glioblastoma pathobiology by means of a comprehensive literature search: microRNA-10b, microRNA-21, microRNA-181b, microRNA-181c, microRNA-195, microRNA-221 and microRNA-222. We further selected 15 primary glioblastoma patients, of whom formalin fixed and paraffin embedded tissue (FFPE) of the initial and recurrence surgery were available. All patients had received first line treatment consisting of postoperative combined radiochemotherapy with temozolomide (n = 15). Non-neoplastic brain tissue samples from 3 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy served as control. The expression of the microRNAs were analysed by RT-qPCR. These were correlated with each other and with clinical parameters. All microRNAs showed detectable levels of expressions in glioblastoma group, whereas microRNA-10b was not detectable in epilepsy patients. MicroRNAs except microRNA-21 showed significantly higher levels in epilepsy patients when compared to the levels of first resection of glioblastoma. Comparison of microRNA levels between first and second resections revealed no significant change. Cox regression analyses showed no significant association of microRNA expression levels in the tumor tissue with progression free survival times. Expression levels of microRNA-10b, microRNA-21, microRNA-181b, microRNA-181c, microRNA-195, microRNA-221 and microRNA-222 do not differ significantly between initial and recurrent glioblastoma.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Ms. Zeljka Stajanovic for the technical assistance. This work was financed with a grant from “Hochschuljubiläumsstiftung der Stadt Wien” with the grant number H-2234/2011. This project received a Poster Award at the European Association of Neuro-oncology (EANO X) Meeting in September 2012 Marseille, France.

Conflict of interest

None of the authors declares a conflict of interest with regard to the manuscript contents.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine I/Oncology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Aysegül Ilhan-Mutlu, Christine Marosi & Matthias Preusser

  2. Institute for Neurology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Adelheid Wöhrer & Anna Sophie Berghoff

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Georg Widhalm

  4. Department of Nephrology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Ludwig Wagner

  5. Comprehensive Cancer Center Vienna, Central Nervous System Tumours Unit, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria

    Aysegül Ilhan-Mutlu, Adelheid Wöhrer, Anna Sophie Berghoff, Georg Widhalm, Christine Marosi, Ludwig Wagner & Matthias Preusser

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  1. Aysegül Ilhan-Mutlu
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  2. Adelheid Wöhrer
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  4. Georg Widhalm
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Correspondence to Matthias Preusser.

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Ilhan-Mutlu, A., Wöhrer, A., Berghoff, A.S. et al. Comparison of microRNA expression levels between initial and recurrent glioblastoma specimens. J Neurooncol 112, 347–354 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11060-013-1078-6

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