Association Between VEGF-C and miRNA and Clinical Non-small Cell Lung Cancer and Esophagus Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Lung cancer and esophageal cancer remain the leading causes of cancer death worldwide. The main problem is lack of effective tool in early detection that accounts for the poor outcome of cancer. Clinically, over 80% of patients with cancer were at late stage when they were diagnosed. Therefore, it is important for us to find the biomarker that serve as the early prediction of cancer.

The investigators have published that VEGFC over-expressed in non-small cell lung cancer. VEGFC plays a critical role in regulating motility of tumor cells, promotes proliferation of lymphatic endothelial cells and enhances migration and invasion. Investigator found that VEGFC over-expressed in the serum of esophageal cancer patients. Therefore, it is worthwhile to investigate the correlation between VEGFC, clinical lung cancer and esophageal cancer.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are conserved, endogenous, small, and noncoding RNA molecules of 21~23 nucleotides that function as post-transcriptional gene regulators. Recent studies indicated that certain microRNAs reduced in cancer patients. Therefore it is important to investigate whether specific microRNA changed in certain kinds of cancer patients.