MiR-429 and MiR-143-3p Function As Diagnostic and Prognostic Markers for Osteosarcoma

Background: Osteosarcoma (OS) is a highly malignant mesenchymal tumor with a low survival rate and a high metastatic rate. Recently, microRNAs were reported to be potential diagnostic and prognostic markers in various cancers, including osteosarcoma. The present study aimed to determine the clinical values of miR-429 and miR-143-3p in OS concerning diagnosis and prognosis. Methods: miR-429 and miR-143-3p expression in serum samples from OS patients and matched healthy controls were measured by a real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The association with miR-429 or miR-143-3p and clinicopathological features were compared by Student's t-test. The diagnostic and prognostic values of miR-429 and miR-143-3p in OS were verified by ROC analysis and Kaplan-Meier survival assays. Results: MiR-429 expression (0.3234 +/- 0.0224) and miR-143-3p expression (0.7463 +/- 0.0282) were significantly down-regulated in the serum from OS patients. Moreover, low miR-429 expression was remarkably associated with tumor size (p < 0.001), clinical-stage (p < 0.001), and distant metastasis (p < 0.001); low miR-143-3p expression was remarkably associated with tumor size (p = 0.0020), clinical-stage (p < 0.001), and distant metastasis (p < 0.001). Importantly, the area under the curves (AUC) of miR-429 and miR-143-3p were 0.9222 (95% CI: 0.8714 -0.9730) and 0.8300 (95% CI: 0.7484 -0.9116), respectively. The cutoff values were 1.0692 and 0.9913 with the highest specificity and sensitivity. The OS patients with lower miR-429 or miR-143-3p expressions survived shorter than those with higher miR-429 or miR-143-3p expressions (p = 0.0409 and 0.0421). Conclusions: Serum miR-429 and miR-143-3p may function as diagnostic and prognostic markers for OS.