P05.20.B MICRORNA-21 AS A POTENTIAL PROGNOSTIC BIOMARKER IN PATIENTS WITH IDH-WILDTYPE GLIOBLASTOMA

Abstract BACKGROUND MicroRNA-21 is listed as one of the miRNAs that is often upregulated in patients with glioblastoma. Recent studies noted that miR-21 may serve as a prognostic or predictive biomarker in glioblastoma. Our study aimed to evaluate the association between microRNA-21 expression levels, categorized as below or above the median value, and progression-free survival (PFS) as well as overall survival (OS) in patients with glioblastoma. MATERIAL AND METHODS This study included 20 patients with pathologically confirmed IDH-wildtype glioblastoma. MiR-21 was isolated from lymphocytes 4-6 week after surgery and the expression values of miR-21 were calibrated. MiRNA-21 expression was stratified based on the median into two groups (below median and above median). Kaplan-Meier analysis was performed to estimate 12-, 24-, and 36-month survival rates, and the log-rank test was applied to assess statistical significance between groups. RESULTS Patients with miRNA-21 expression below median demonstrated significantly shorter PFS and OS compared to those above median. The log-rank test confirmed a statistically significant difference between survival curves for PFS (p = 0.049) and OS (p = 0.014). CONCLUSION MicroRNA-21 could exhibit a different pattern than expected following the initiation of surgical treatment for glioblastoma. These findings suggest that miR-21 may be a promising biomarker for patients with glioblastoma IDH-wildtype, potentially influencing further patient stratification.