Role of NEAT1/miR-211-3p axis in the serum of breast cancer patients

Purpose: Long non-coding RNAs and microRNAs are considerable regulators of breast-cancer development, their clinicopathological relevance highly studying. We explored the association between NEAT1 and miR-211 expression levels and key clinicopathological features in a Turkish cohort of patients with breast cancer.Materials and methods: Serum from treatment-naïve 59 breast cancer patients, and healthy 45 age-matched controls were analyzed. Total RNA was extracted, reverse-transcribed, and quantified by qRT-PCR and target gene analysis was performed. Studied clinicopathological variables included estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), HER2, Ki-67 index, p53 status, size of tumor, body mass index, lymph-node metastasis, and pathological stage.Results: Substantial positive relation was discovered between Ki67 and P53 expression levels indicating that increased proliferative activity may be associated with higher P53 expression in tumor samples. This finding supports the possibility of a coordinated role of these markers in tumor progression, suggesting its association with proliferative characteristics. Although miR-211 did not exhibit significant clinicopathological correlations, its downregulation was more pronounced in patients who developed metastases. A strong concordance was observed between ER and PR status, and Ki-67 expression was significantly lower in ER- and PR-positive tumors. Additionally, the stage was positively associated with tumor size and nodal status.Conclusions: NEAT1 over-expression accompanies higher proliferation and greater tumor burden in primary breast cancer, supporting its candidacy as a prognostic biomarker or therapeutic target. In the axis, miR-211 is thought to be downregulated by NEAT1 in breast carcinogenesis.