AccScience Publishing / EJMO / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/EJMO025200190
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Prognostic and predictive significance of altered microRNA expression in pancreatic cancer

Yaping Zhang1 ,  Dongju Xiao1 ,  Junran Xie1*
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1 Department of Anesthesiology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
EJMO, 025200190 https://doi.org/10.36922/EJMO025200190
Received: 13 May 2025 | Revised: 7 August 2025 | Accepted: 8 September 2025 | Published online: 8 October 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Introduction: Pancreatic cancer (PC) remains one of the most lethal malignancies with a dismal 5-year survival rate of 13%. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as critical regulators in tumor progression, yet their clinical relevance in PC requires validation through large-scale datasets.

Objective: This study aims to detect irregularities in miRNA expression within PC patients by analyzing data sourced from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database.

Methods: Expression profiles of 14 miRNAs in 183 PC patients were analyzed using data from the TCGA database, correlating them with survival, tumor-node-metastasis stage, tumor grade, recurrence, and lymph node metastasis. Molecular mechanisms were explored via target prediction and correlation analysis.

Results: Reduced miR-107 expression and elevated miR-21 expression were each independently linked to worse overall survival (p<0.05). Lower miR-107 levels were correlated with advanced stage (Stage I vs. Stage II: p<0.05) and lymph node metastasis (p<0.05), whereas higher miR-21 levels were associated with higher T stage (T3+4 vs. T1+2: p<0.0001), advanced overall stage (Stage I vs. Stage II: p<0.0001), higher tumor grade (G3+4 vs. G1: p<0.001) and increased recurrence rates (*p<0.05). Mechanistically, the degradation of oncogenic miR-21—mediated by poly(A) polymerase-associated protein D5—was disrupted (p<0.001), leading to the overexpression of miR-21, thereby reducing the expression of tumor suppressor gene programmed cell death 4 (p<0.0001). MiR-107 was a candidate for targeting Notch2 and cyclin-dependent kinase 6 (p<0.05).

Conclusion: MiR-21 and miR-107 are pivotal prognostic biomarkers in PC, warranting further exploration as therapeutic targets.

Keywords
MiR-107
MiR-21
Pancreatic cancer
The cancer genome atlas database
Funding
The study was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Youth Foundation of China (81701972) and the Science and Technology Project of Zhejiang Province (2021439997).
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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Eurasian Journal of Medicine and Oncology, Electronic ISSN: 2587-196X Print ISSN: 2587-2400, Published by AccScience Publishing
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