MicroRNA-105 plays an independent prognostic role in esophageal cancer and acts as an oncogene

BACKGROUND: Esophageal cancer is a common tumor with high mortality worldwide. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the prognostic significance and regulatory effects of miR-105 on cellular functions of esophageal cancer cells. METHODS: The expression level of miR-105 was analyzed in esophageal cancer tissues and cell lines by qRT-PCR. Survival analysis was carried out using the Kaplan-Meier and the prognostic significance of miR-105 was analyzed with Cox regression analysis. The effects of miR-105 on cell proliferation, migration, and invasion abilities were detected with cellular experiments. RESULTS: We found that miR-105 was significantly upregulated in esophageal cancer tissues and cell lines, compared with the control group, respectively. Moreover, overexpression of miR-105 was significantly associated with positive lymph node metastasis, advanced TNM stage, and poor overall survival. In addition, overexpression of miR-105 promoted cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in esophageal cancer cells, while downregulation of miR-105 suppressed these cellular behaviors. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that a higher level of miR-105 predicts poorer prognosis in esophageal cancer patients, and miR-105 can promote esophageal cancer cell proliferation, migration, and invasion.