Evaluation of Radiotherapy on miR-374 Gene Expression in Colorectal Cancer Patient Blood Samples

Current cancer treatments include surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy. Despite these treatments, a main issue in cancer treatment is early detection. microRNAs (miRNAs) can be used as markers to diagnose and treat cancers. This study investigated the effect of radiotherapy on miR-374 expression, and APC and GSK-3β, two of its target genes, in the WNT pathway, in peripheral blood samples from radiotherapy-treated colorectal cancer (CRC) patients.

Peripheral blood was collected from 25 patients before and after radiotherapy. RNA was extracted from the blood and cDNA synthesized. miR-374, APC, and GSK-3β expression was determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and the amplicons were sequenced. Finally, the data were statistically evaluated.

Quantitative RT-PCR revealed significant down-regulation of miR-374 (0.63-fold) and upregulation of APC (1.12-fold) and GSK-3β (1.22-fold) in CRC patients after five weeks of radiotherapy. Sequencing of PCR-produced amplicons confirmed the conservation of mature and precursor sequences encoding miR-374. miR-374 expression changed with time after radiotherapy treatment and related tumor grading. Increased age and tumor grade positively correlated with decreased miR-374 expression.

miR-374 expression, and that of its two target genes, APC and GSK-3β, changed after radiotherapy. These genes can likely be used as  diagnostic radiotherapy markers in CRC.