Unique microRNA molecular profiles in lung cancer diagnosis and prognosis.

MicroRNA (miRNA) expression profiles for lung cancers were examined to investigate miRNA's involvement in lung carcinogenesis. miRNA microarray analysis identified statistical unique profiles, which could discriminate lung cancers from noncancerous lung tissues as well as molecular signatures that differ in tumor histology. miRNA expression profiles correlated with survival of lung adenocarcinomas, including those classified as disease stage I. High hsa-mir-155 and low hsa-let-7a-2 expression correlated with poor survival by univariate analysis as well as multivariate analysis for hsa-mir-155. The miRNA expression signature on outcome was confirmed by real-time RT-PCR analysis of precursor miRNAs and cross-validated with an independent set of adenocarcinomas. These results indicate that miRNA expression profiles are diagnostic and prognostic markers of lung cancer.