Research Article MicroRNA-24 Modulates Aflatoxin B1-Related Hepatocellular Carcinoma Prognosis and Tumorigenesis

Copyright © 2014 Yi-Xiao Liu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. MicroRNA-24 (miR-24)may be involved in neoplastic process; however, the role of this microRNA in the hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) related to aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) has not been well elaborated. Here, we tested miR-24 expression in 207 pathology-diagnosed HCC cases from high AFB1 exposure areas and HCC cells. We found that miR-24 was upregulated in HCC tumor tissues relative to adjacent noncancerous tissue samples, and that the high expression of miR-24 was significantly correlated with larger tumor size, higher microvessel density, and tumor dedifferentiation. Additionally, this microRNA overexpressionmodified the recurrence-free survival (relative hazard ratio [HR], 4.75; 95 % confidence interval [CI], 2.66–8.47) and overall survival (HR = 3.58, 95 % CI = 2.34–5.46) of HCC patients. Furthermore, we observed some evidence of joint effects betweenmiR-24 and AFB1 exposure on HCC prognosis. Functionally, miR-24 overexpression progressed tumor cells proliferation, inhibited cell apoptosis, and developed the formation of AFB1-DNA adducts. These results indicate for the first time that miR-24 may modify AFB1-related HCC prognosis and tumorigenesis. 1