MicroRNA-related genetic variants associated with clinical outcomes in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer patients.

Given the density of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the human genome and the sensitivity of single-nucleotide changes in microRNA (miRNA) functionality and processing, we asked whether polymorphisms within miRNA processing pathways and binding sites may influence non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients' prognosis. We genotyped 240 miRNA-related SNPs in 535 patients with stage I and II NSCLCs to determine associations with overall recurrence and survival as well as effect in specific treatment subgroups. After correcting for multiple comparisons, the G allele of FZD4:rs713065 displayed a significant association with decreased risk of death in surgery-only patients [HR, 0.46; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.32-0.65]. DROSHA:rs6886834 variant A allele (HR, 6.38; 95% CI, 2.49-16.31) remained significant for increased risk of recurrence in the overall and surgery-only populations, respectively. FAS:rs2234978 G allele remained significantly associated with survival in all patients (HR, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.44-0.77), whereas borderline significant in subgroups (surgery-only: HR, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.42-0.84; surgery plus chemo: HR, 0.19; 95% CI, 0.07-0.46). Luciferase assays showed that the FAS SNP created a miR-651 functional binding site. Survival tree analysis was conducted to classify patients into distinct risk subgroups based on their risk genotype combinations. These results indicate that miRNA-related polymorphisms may be associated with NSCLC patients' clinical outcomes through altered miRNA regulation of target genes.