miR-27a promotes cell proliferation and metastasis in renal cell carcinoma

miR-27a has been reported to exhibit abnormal expression in renal cell carcinoma (RCC), but the role of miR-27a in RCC remains unknown. In our study, up-regulation of miR-27a was validated by Real-time PCR analysis in 133 RCC samples. Overexpression of miR-27a promoted cell migration, invasion and proliferation in vitro, while its low expression exerted opposite effects. Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that the patients with high expression of miR-27a had a worse overall and relapse-free survivals compared with those with low expression of miR-27a. Cox proportional hazards analyses showed that miR-27a expression was an independent prognostic factor for RCC patients. Collectively, our findings illustrate the promoting-cancer effect of miR-27a in RCC, suggesting that miR-27a could be a potential therapeutic target for RCC. Additionally, Kaplan-Meier analyses and Cox proportional regression analysis suggest that miR-27a may be a potential biomarker for predicting the survival of RCC patients.