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microRNA expression might predict prognosis of epithelial hepatoblastoma

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Abstract

Hepatoblastoma (HB) is the most common primary liver cancer in childhood. The fetal and mixed embryonal/fetal epithelial subtypes of HB differ not only in grade of differentiation but probably also in prognosis. We aimed to determine microRNA (miRNA) expression patterns of the main subtypes of epithelial HBs to reveal differences and relate them to survival. We studied 20 cases of epithelial HB, subtyped as pure fetal (n = 12) or embryonal/fetal (n = 8). Tissues were sampled according to subtype to arrive at 15 purely fetal and eight purely embryonal samples (n = 8) and 15 samples of non-tumorous surrounding liver (SL). Relative expression of miR-17-5p, miR-18a, miR-21, miR-34a, miR-96, miR-122, miR-181a, miR-195, miR-210, miR-214, miR-221, miR-222, miR-223, and miR-224 was determined by TaqMan MicroRNA Assays applying miR-140 as reference. A higher level of miR-18a (p < 0.01) was found in embryonal samples than in fetal samples. Lower miR-17-5p, miR-195, miR-210, miR-214, and higher miR-221 levels were detected in fetal samples (p < 0.02) in comparison with SL samples, whereas a lower miR-122 level was observed in embryonal samples (p < 0.003). Histological subtype did not correlate with survival; however, high miR-21, low miR-222, and low miR-224 levels proved to be independently prognostic for HB with significantly increased overall survival (p < 0.03). The fetal and embryonal components of epithelial HB, as well as SL, revealed different miRNA expression patterns. Furthermore, miR-21, miR-222, and miR-224 levels predict overall survival of HB patients regardless of epithelial subtype.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Mrs. Elvira Kálé Rigóné for the English proofreading and Mrs. Magdolna Zoltánné Pekár for her assistance in sectioning and manually guided dissection. This study was supported by grants OTKA K101435 and K108548 from the National Scientific Research Foundation.

Conflict of interest

There are no conflicts of interest to be identified.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. 2nd Department of Pathology, Semmelweis University, Üllői út 93, Budapest, 1091, Hungary

    Mónika Gyugos, István Kenessey, Krisztina Schlachter, Judit Halász, Zsuzsa Schaff & András Kiss

  2. MTA-SE Tumor Progression Research Group, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary

    Gábor Lendvai & Zsuzsa Schaff

  3. 1st Department of Pathology and Experimental Cancer Research, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary

    Péter Nagy

  4. 2nd Department of Pediatrics, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary

    Miklós Garami & Zsuzsa Jakab

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  1. Mónika Gyugos
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Correspondence to András Kiss.

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Gyugos, M., Lendvai, G., Kenessey, I. et al. microRNA expression might predict prognosis of epithelial hepatoblastoma. Virchows Arch 464, 419–427 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-014-1549-y

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