Single nucleotide polymorphisms of microRNA processing genes and outcome of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

microRNA (miRNA)-related single nucleotide polymorphisms (miR-SNPs) in miRNA-processing machinery genes can affect cancer risk, treatment efficacy, and patients' prognosis by mediating the expression of targeted genes. Five miR-SNPs in miRNA processing machinery genes, including XPO5 (rs11077), RAN (rs14035), TNRC6B (rs9623117), GEMIN3 (rs197412), and GEMIN4 (rs2740348), in 168 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients were evaluated for their association with the cancer risk and outcomes associated with NHL. miR-SNPs were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction-ligase detection reaction. The survival curves were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and comparisons between the curves were made using the log-rank test. Multivariate survival analysis was performed using a Cox proportional hazards model. Among the five SNPs, only rs197412 located in the coding region of the GEMIN3 gene was identified; it was independently associated with overall survival in NHL patients, as determined by multivariate analysis (relative risk: 1.649; 95% confidence interval: 1.110-2.449; P=0.013). The prognostic value of this miR-SNP in patient outcomes was also observed in the diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and T-cell lymphoma NHL subtypes. Our results suggested that the specific genetic variants observed in the miRNA machinery genes may affect NHL survival.