Comparison of LncRNA NBAT-1/miR-21-5p/PTEN gene expression in colorectal cancer with marginal tissue

Abstract

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers and the most deadly types of cancer worldwide. Tumor biomarkers are crucial for cancer diagnosis, predicting its outcome and choosing an appropriate treatment method. The aim of this study was to compare LncRNA NBAT-1/miR-21-5p/PTEN gene expression in colorectal cancer with margin tissue. Materials and methods: This study was conducted in a laboratory on 100 patients with colorectal cancer living in the northwest of the country. After obtaining consent from the patients during surgery, 2 tissue samples were taken from the tumor and the margin and were immediately transferred to the preservative solution. After that, the samples were transferred and stored at the research center following the cold chain, after which RNA was extracted with lab techniques and using Real Time PCR, the expression level of NBAT-1/miR-21-5p/PTEN LncRNA genes was measured in these samples. Finally, the information was entered into Prism software and has been subjected to statistical analysis. Findings: Among the 100 patients examined with colorectal cancer, 73% were older than 60 years and 53% were men. 68% of the studied cases had metastasized to nearby lymph nodes and 21% had metastasized to distant tissues. The level of histological differentiation was poor in 51% of cases and 67% of patients had Stage 3 and 4 cancer. The expression level of lncRNA NBAT-1 and PTEN in tumor tissue was significantly lower than in the margin tissue (P=0.0003 and P=0.0002, respectively). While the expression level of miR-21-5p gene in tumor tissue was significantly higher than in margin tissue (P<0.0001). It was also observed that all 3 genes lnc-NBAT (AUC: 0.673; P<0.0001) and PTEN (AUC: 0.688; P=0.0001) as well as miR-21-5p (AUC: 0.691; P<0.0001) for identifying cancer tissue. Colorectals have acceptable but not very high discrimination power. The level of lnc-NBAT and PTEN gene expression had an inverse and significant correlation with the level of miR-21-5p gene expression, and the level of lnc-NBAT and PTEN gene expression had a positive and significant correlation. Finally, it was observed that the expression level of lnc-NBAT, PTEN and miR-21-5p genes in CRC tissue did not change according to the age and gender of the patients (P>0.05), but in terms of lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, the degree of differentiation and Cancer Stage of the patient had statistically significant changes (P<0.05).