Expression of miR‑34a and Ki67 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma and the relationship with clinicopathological features and prognosis

Expression levels of miR-34a and Ki67 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and the relationship with clinicopathological features and prognosis were studied. A prospective study was performed on 56 cases of NPC tissues and 56 cases of adjacent tissues collected in Xiangyang No. 1 People's Hospital. The expression levels of miR-34a, Ki67 in NPC and adjacent tissues were detected by RT-qPCR. The association among the expression levels of miR-34a and Ki67, the clinicopathological features and prognosis of patients was analyzed. The relative expression levels of miR-34a in 56 cases of NPC were lower than those of the adjacent tissues. The expression of miR-34a in NPC was significantly associated with bone metastasis and TNM staging (P<0.001). The relative expression of Ki67 in 56 cases of NPC was higher than that of the adjacent tissues. The expression of Ki67 in NPC was significantly associated with lymphatic metastasis and TNM staging (P<0.001). The 5-year survival of patients with low expression of miR-34a was significantly lower than that of patients with high expression, and the survival of patients with high expression of Ki67 was significantly lower than that of patients with low expression. According to Pearson's correlation analysis, Ki67 expression was negatively correlated with miR-34a expression in NPC tissues. In conclusion, the expression of Ki67 in NPC was upregulated, while the expression of miR-34a in NPC was downregulated. miR-34a expression in NPC was significantly associated with bone metastasis and TNM staging, and Ki67 expression in NPC was significantly associated with lymphatic metastasis and TNM staging. In addition, there was a negative correlation between miR-34a and Ki67 expression levels, and the two can be used as predictors of NPC-associated mortality. The expression levels of miR-34a and Ki67, as well as TNM staging were associated with the prognosis of NPC patients.