microRNA-218 (miR-218) is a vertebrate-specific miRNA that plays a crucial role in tumorigenesis and tumor progression. This study analyzed the miR-218 expression level and clinical significance in pancreatic cancer. One hundred and seven pairs of pancreatic cancer and adjacent normal tissues were analyzed by quantitative reversetranscriptase polymerase chain reaction. The correlation between miR-218 expression and clinicopathological characters was determined by the two-sample Student t-test.

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... he survival correlations were analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards model. The relative expression of miR-218 in pancreatic cancer tissues (2.63 ± 1.59) was significantly lower than that in matched noncancerous pancreatic tissues (6.52 ± 2.50, P < 0.001). The low expression of miR-218 in the pancreatic cancer tissues were strongly correlated with the TNM classification (P = 0.02), distant metastasis (P = 0.001), and tumor differentiation (P = 0.003). The low level of miR-218 expression was significantly correlated with the shorter overall survival time of pancreatic cancer patients (5-year overall survival rate: 7.5 vs 34.9%; log-rank test: P < 0.001). Multivariate analyses confirmed that a low level of miR-218 expression was an independent 16373 miR-218 is a prognosis factor for pancreatic cancer ©FUNPEC-RP www.funpecrp.com.br Genetics and Molecular Research 14 (4): 16372-16378 (2015) predictor of poor prognosis in pancreatic cancer patients (Hazard ratio: 7.24; 95% confidence interval: 2.01-18.28; P = 0.007). Our findings suggested a significant downregulation in the expression of miR-218; this might have considerable potential value in the prognosis for pancreatic cancer.