The expression of MIR17HG protein as a potential therapeutic target in meningioma.

MIR17 host gene (MIR17HG) is a potential therapeutic target for some cancer types. The aim of this study was to assess MIR17HG protein levels in patients with meningioma which were not reported previously in the literature and comparing with normal meninges tissues.MIR17HG protein levels were measured in total of 46 samples including 25 meningioma tissues procured during surgery and 21 normal meninges tissues obtained within 4 hours of death during autopsy procedures. Each samples were stored at -80 °C until the evaluation of MIR17HG protein with sandwich-ELISA principle. Results were compared between the groups.MIR17HG protein levels were significantly higher in meningioma tissues when compared to controls and difference was statistically significant (p=0.012). Both WHO grade-I and grade-II meningiomas had higher MIR17HG protein levels compared to controls and differences were statistically significant (p=0.026 for grade-I, p=0.042 for grade-II). ROC analysis was performed to determine the cut-off of MIR17HG protein value in differentiating meningioma and control groups. At the cut-off value for MIR17HG protein of > 0.0998 ng/ml, the sensitivity was 73.91%, 71.43%, 77.78% and area under the curve were 0.756, 0.753, 0.761 for meningioma group, grade-I and grade-II subgroups respectively and specificity was 69.23% for each group.MIR17HG protein expression was found higher level in meningiomas than normal meninges tissues in our study. Considering the recurrency and irresectability for some meningiomas which require further treatment, MIR17HG may be a new target for treatment in meningiomas and our study will shed light on further studies.