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miRpower: a web-tool to validate survival-associated miRNAs utilizing expression data from 2178 breast cancer patients

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Breast Cancer Research and Treatment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

The proper validation of prognostic biomarkers is an important clinical issue in breast cancer research. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as a new class of promising breast cancer biomarkers. In the present work, we developed an integrated online bioinformatic tool to validate the prognostic relevance of miRNAs in breast cancer.

Methods

A database was set up by searching the GEO, EGA, TCGA, and PubMed repositories to identify datasets with published miRNA expression and clinical data. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis was performed to validate the prognostic value of a set of 41 previously published survival-associated miRNAs.

Results

All together 2178 samples from four independent datasets were integrated into the system including the expression of 1052 distinct human miRNAs. In addition, the web-tool allows for the selection of patients, which can be filtered by receptors status, lymph node involvement, histological grade, and treatments. The complete analysis tool can be accessed online at: www.kmplot.com/mirpower. We used this tool to analyze a large number of deregulated miRNAs associated with breast cancer features and outcome, and confirmed the prognostic value of 26 miRNAs. A significant correlation in three out of four datasets was validated only for miR-29c and miR-101.

Conclusions

In summary, we established an integrated platform capable to mine all available miRNA data to perform a survival analysis for the identification and validation of prognostic miRNA markers in breast cancer.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA) K 108655 Grant (to B.G.), Associazione Italiana Ricerca sul Cancro (Grant 6251 to L.S.), and Fondazione Italiana Ricerca sul Cancro (FIRC fellowship 18328 to G.B.). The authors are grateful to Laura Paladini for her cooperation in data collection.

Author Contributions

B.G. and L.S. conceived, designed, and supervised the study. B.G., A.L., A.N., and L.S. performed the analysis. G.B., B.G., G.M., and L.S. reviewed the literature. G.B., B.G., A.L., A.N., L.S., and A.S. participated in data interpretation. All authors were involved in writing and reviewing the manuscript, and approved the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MTA TTK Lendület Cancer Biomarker Research Group, Magyar Tudósok körútja 2, Budapest, 1117, Hungary

    András Lánczky, Ádám Nagy, Gyöngyi Munkácsy & Balázs Győrffy

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary

    Ádám Nagy, András Szabó & Balázs Győrffy

  3. Oncology Experimental Therapeutics Unit, Humanitas Clinical and Research Institute, Via Manzoni 113, 20089, Rozzano-Milan, Italy

    Giulia Bottai & Libero Santarpia

  4. MTA-SE Pediatrics and Nephrology Research Group, Budapest, Hungary

    Gyöngyi Munkácsy

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  1. András Lánczky
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Correspondence to Libero Santarpia or Balázs Győrffy.

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Lánczky, A., Nagy, Á., Bottai, G. et al. miRpower: a web-tool to validate survival-associated miRNAs utilizing expression data from 2178 breast cancer patients. Breast Cancer Res Treat 160, 439–446 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-016-4013-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-016-4013-7

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