Clinical potential of miR-3651 as a novel prognostic biomarker for esophageal squamous cell cancer

• The expression level of miR-3651 was examined by qRT-PCR.
• miR-3651 was down-regulated in ESCC tissues.
• miR-3651 was negatively correlated with T stage and tumor length of ESCC.
• miR-3651 could be used as a novel predictive indicator for ESCC patients.

Accumulating evidence indicates that dysregulated microRNA-3651(miR-3651) is involved in tumorigenesis and cancer progression. In this study, we investigated the expression of miR-3651 in esophageal squamous cell cancer(ESCC) and its relationship with tumor progression and clinical prognosis. The expression level of miR-3651 was examined by quantitative Real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) in fresh ESCC tissues and FFPE tissues. The correlation between miR-3651 expression and clinical features and prognosis were statistically analyzed. The results showed that the miR-3651 expression was significantly down-regulated in tumor tissues compared with the paracancerous tissues. Moreover, miR-3651 expression was negatively correlated with T stage of ESCC (P = 0.022) and tumor length (P = 0.015). Kaplan–Meier analysis demonstrated that low miR-3651 expression level was associated with poorer overall survival (OS) (P = 0.004) and disease-free survival (DFS) (P = 0.001). Multivariate analysis identified miR-3651 expression as independent prognostic factor for OS and DFS (P = 0.001 and P = 0.001, resp.). Further stratified analysis revealed the significant association between low miR-3651 expression and worse survival in early patients, but not in the advanced patients. Taken together, miR-3651 was down-regulated in cancerous tissues of ESCC. It may play an important role in cancer progression and could be used as an independent prognostic biomarker for ESCC patients.