MicroRNAs play critical roles in tumor progression. Our recent study has indicated that microRNA-7 (miR-7) impairs autophagy-derived pools of glucose to suppress the glycolysis in pancreatic cancer progression. However, the roles of miR-7 in clinical significance and chemoresistance of pancreatic cancer remain unexplored. The aim of this study was to assess the expression of miR-7 in patients with pancreatic cancer and to evaluate the possibility of its usage as a prognostic molecular biomarker. MicroRNA array-based quantification analysis of 372 miRNAs was compared in serum between pancreatic cancer and healthy individuals, gemcitabine-sensitive and gemcitabine-resistance patients. We identified miR-7 showed the potential predictive power for gemcitabine-sensitive patients with pancreatic cancer. Then, the results were validated in pancreatic tissue microarray and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset, demonstrating that lower miR-7 expression was correlated with more advanced tumor stages and worse prognosis in pancreatic cancer. The Cox proportional-hazards model analysis identified miR-7 to be an independent variable for prediction of the survival. Furthermore, the mechanistic exploration suggested the clinical significance of miR-7 involved its interference effect on autophagy and glycolysis in pancreatic cancer using pancreatic cancer tissue microarrays and TCGA data. Therefore, the results of the present study provide evidences that low microRNA-7 expression may contribute to tumor progression and poor prognosis in pancreatic cancer.

中文翻译：

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MicroRNA-7作为胰腺癌预后的潜在生物标志物。

MicroRNA在肿瘤进展中起关键作用。我们最近的研究表明，microRNA-7（miR-7）会损害自噬来源的葡萄糖池，从而抑制胰腺癌进展中的糖酵解。但是，尚未探讨miR-7在胰腺癌的临床意义和化学耐药性中的作用。这项研究的目的是评估胰腺癌患者中miR-7的表达，并评估其作为预后分子生物标志物的可能性。在胰腺癌与健康个体，对吉西他滨敏感和对吉西他滨耐药的患者中，比较了血清中372个miRNA的基于MicroRNA阵列的定量分析。我们确定miR-7显示出对吉西他滨敏感的胰腺癌患者具有潜在的预测能力。然后，结果在胰腺组织微阵列和《癌症基因组图谱》（TCGA）数据集中得到证实，表明较低的miR-7表达与胰腺癌的更晚期肿瘤分期和更差的预后相关。Cox比例风险模型分析确定miR-7为预测生存的独立变量。此外，机理探索表明，使用胰腺癌组织微阵列和TCGA数据，miR-7的临床意义涉及其对胰腺癌自噬和糖酵解的干扰作用。因此，本研究的结果提供了证据，即低microRNA-7表达可能有助于胰腺癌的肿瘤进展和不良预后。表明较低的miR-7表达与胰腺癌的更晚期肿瘤分期和更差的预后相关。Cox比例风险模型分析确定miR-7为预测生存的独立变量。此外，机理探索表明，使用胰腺癌组织微阵列和TCGA数据，miR-7的临床意义涉及其对胰腺癌自噬和糖酵解的干扰作用。因此，本研究的结果提供了证据，即低microRNA-7表达可能有助于胰腺癌的肿瘤进展和不良预后。表明较低的miR-7表达与胰腺癌的更晚期肿瘤分期和更差的预后相关。Cox比例风险模型分析确定miR-7为预测生存的独立变量。此外，机理探索表明，使用胰腺癌组织微阵列和TCGA数据，miR-7的临床意义涉及其对胰腺癌自噬和糖酵解的干扰作用。因此，本研究的结果提供了证据，即低microRNA-7表达可能有助于胰腺癌的肿瘤进展和不良预后。此外，机理探索表明，使用胰腺癌组织微阵列和TCGA数据，miR-7的临床意义涉及其对胰腺癌自噬和糖酵解的干扰作用。因此，本研究的结果提供了证据，即低microRNA-7表达可能有助于胰腺癌的肿瘤进展和不良预后。此外，机理探索表明，使用胰腺癌组织微阵列和TCGA数据，miR-7的临床意义涉及其对胰腺癌自噬和糖酵解的干扰作用。因此，本研究的结果提供了证据，即低microRNA-7表达可能有助于胰腺癌的肿瘤进展和不良预后。