The serum miR-515-5p and HOXB13 levels in non-small cell lung cancer patients and their associations with clinicopathological features and prognosis
WEI Xiaoqun
CHEN Yaofeng
LAI Qiting
LIU Jian
ZHANG Peifang
Abstract：Objective To analyze the serum microribonucleic acid(miR)-515-5p and homeobox protein B13(HOXB13)levels in non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC)patients and their associations with clinicopathological features and prognosis.Methods A total of 118 patients with NSCLC who were admitted to the First People's Hospital of Foshan from July 2019 to July 2021 were recruited as research group,and 118 healthy individuals who underwent physical examination during the same period were selected as control group.The levels of relative expressions of serum miR-515-5p and HOXB13 mRNA were detected by using real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction(RT-qPCR).The patients were followed up for 3 years after discharge from the hospital.According to the survival status of the patients during the follow-up period,they were divided into poor prognosis group(51 patients)and good prognosis group(67 patients).Pearson correlation was used to analyze the correlation between miR-515-5p level and HOXB13 level.The survival curve was plotted by using Kaplan-Meier method,and the inter-group comparison was conducted by using log-rank test.Cox regression was used to analyze the influencing factors of death in the NSCLC patients.Results The level of miR-515-5p in the research group was significantly lower than that in the control group(P＜0.05),while the level of HOXB13 in the research group was significantly higher than that in the control group(P＜0.05).The results of Pearson correlation analysis showed that the miR-515-5p level in the NSCLC patients was negatively correlated with the HOXB13 level(r=-0.742,P＜0.001).The levels of miR-515-5p and HOXB13 in the NSCLC patients were related to TNM stage,degree of differentiation and lymph node metastasis(P＜0.05),but were not significantly related to age,gender,pathological type and tumor diameter(P＞0.05).The serum miR-515-5p level in the poor prognosis group was significantly lower than that in the good prognosis group(P＜0.05),while the serum HOXB13 level in the poor prognosis group was significantly higher than that in the good prognosis group(P＜0.05).The survival prognosis of the patients with high expression of miR-515-5p(≥0.50)was significantly better than that of the patients with low expression of miR-515-5p(＜0.50)(log-rank test:x2=36.627,P＜0.001).The survival prognosis of the patients with low expression of HOXB13(＜2.08)was significantly better than that of the patients with high expression of HOXB13(≥ 2.08)(log-rank test:x2=12.755,P＜0.001).The results of multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that high expression of HOXB13,TNM stages Ⅲ-Ⅳ,low degree of differentiation,and lymph node metastasis were risk factors for death in the patients(P＜0.05),and high expression of miR-515-5p was a protective factor for inhibiting death in the patients(P＜0.05).Conclusion Serum miR-515-5p level is decreased and serum HOXB13 level is increased in NSCLC patients.Both miR-515-5p and HOXB13 are related to the clinicopathological features and prognosis of the patients.
Keywords：Microribonucleic acid(miR)-515-5p(miR-515-5p)Homeobox protein B13(HOXB13)Non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC)Clinicopathological featuresPrognosis
Publication Date：2026-02-28
Online Publishing Date：2026-03-31(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：7( 207-213 )