Association Micro-RNA 125 and Micro-RNA 152 Polymorphisms with Long Cancer Risk in Iranian Patients

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, and about 80% of patients have non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).Both environmental and genetic factors contribute to the mortality of patients with NSCLC. Recent evidence indicates that small noncoding RNA molecules known as microRNAs (miRNAs) can function as tumor suppressors and oncogenes. The loss and gain of function of specific miRNAs were also thought to be key events in the genesis of diverse cancers .In lung cancer, miRNA expression profiles and specific miRNAs have been shown to be correlated with survival of lung adenocarcinomas. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) or mutations occurring in the miRNA gene region may have effects on the function of miRNAs through altering miRNAs expression and/or maturation, consequently contributing to cancer susceptibility.In this case–control study, we genotyped two SNPs [rs12976445 (mir-152) and rs12940701 (mir-125a)] in Iranian patients with late-stage NSCLC and healthy control by PCR-RFLP methods. Our result provides evidence for the application of miRNA SNPs as predictive biomarkers in future personalized medicine for patients with NSCLC.