Low expression of microRNA-1908 predicts a poor prognosis for patients with ovarian cancer

MicroRNAs (miRs) serve important roles in cancer genesis and progression. The expression of miR-1908 has been reported in a number of types of cancer; however, the clinical significance of miR-1908 in human ovarian cancer (OC) remains unclear. A total of 491 patients with OC from The Cancer Genome Atlas project cohort were selected and divided into two groups according to the median expression level of miR-1908. Univariate and multivariate analyses, using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression, were performed to identify the characteristics that predict OC prognosis. Bioinformatics tools were used to identify potential targets of miR-1908. It was identified that the low expression of miR-1908 is associated with a poor prognosis for OC (P<0.05). The potential target genes of miR-1908 included podocan-like 1, JunB AP-1 transcription factor subunit, homeobox B8, SET binding factor 1 and sirtuin 2; high expression of these five genes additionally predicted a poor prognosis. These results suggest that miR-1908 may be a suitable target for the development of novel approaches in OC diagnosis and therapy in the future.