MicroRNA signature helps distinguish early from late biochemical failure in prostate cancer

PURPOSE Prostate-specific antigen testing has led to overtreatment of prostate cancer (PCa). Only a small subset of PCa patients will have an aggressive disease that requires intensive therapy, and there is currently no biomarker to predict disease aggressiveness at the time of surgery. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are reported to be involved in PCa pathogenesis. METHODS This study involved 105 participants. For the discovery phase, prostatectomy samples were dichotomized to high-risk (n = 27, biochemical failure RESULTS We identified 25 differentially expressed miRNAs between the biochemical failure risk groups. Based on the expression of 2–3 miRNAs, 3 logistic regression models were developed, each with a high positive predictive value. Candidate miRNAs and the best-performing model were also verified on an independent PCa set. miRNA-152, featured in the models, was further investigated by using cell line models and was shown to affect cell proliferation. Predicted interaction between miR-152 and (mRNA)ERBB3 (erythroblastic leukemia viral oncogene homolog 3) was experimentally validated in vitro. CONCLUSIONS miRNAs can help to predict biochemical failure risk at the time of prostatectomy.