mRNA profiling and clinical outcomes in human osteosarcoma (biopsies)

Osteosarcoma is a malignancy with variable outcomes that are not tightly aligned with chemotherapy response. Previous work has suggested a possible role for microRNAs (miRNAs) in determining the susceptibility of osteosarcomas to treatment but formal miRNA-based outcome models have not been reported. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) specimens may be a unique approach for such studies in a rare malignancy. We used supervised principal components analysis and logistic regression to study survival and chemoresponse endpoints, and miRNA activity and gene set analysis algorithms to study miRNA regulatory networks using mRNA data. Our study also creates a paradigm for FFPE-based miRNA clinical biomarker research in rare tumors. 37 unique diagnostic biopsy specimens were profiled. Samples with paired surgical resection specimens (not included in this submission) are denoted in the Sample 'characteristics' field.