microRNAs (miRs) are endogenous small non-coding RNAs that are aberrantly 
expressed in various carcinomas. miR-152 and miR-148a have not been 
comprehensively investigated in ovarian cancer. Thus, the aim of this study was 
to identify the role of miR-152 and miR-148a in epithelial ovarian cancer. Total 
RNA was extracted from tissues of 78 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer, 17 
normal ovarian epithelium tissues and two ovarian cancer cell lines. Using 
quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) followed by the 2-ΔΔCT method for 
calculating the results, we found that the expression levels of miR-152 were 
significantly decreased in ovarian cancer tissues compared to normal ovarian 
epithelium tissues (p<0.05). However, although the expression of miR-148a was 
also decreased in 65% of patients, no statistically significant difference in 
expression was found. A strong correlation was found between the expression of 
miR-152 and miR-148a (p<0.001, Pearson's correlation). The relationship between 
miR-152 or miR-148a expression levels in ovarian cancer and clinicopathological 
features, response to therapy and short-term survival was analyzed and the 
results showed that no correlation existed. In addition, we found that both 
miR-152 and miR-148a were down-regulated in ovarian cancer cell lines. After 
miR-152 or miR-148a mimics were transfected into ovarian cancer cell lines, the 
MTT cell proliferation assay showed that cell proliferation was significantly 
inhibited. Taken together, miR-152 and miR-148a may be involved in the 
carcinogenesis of ovarian cancer through deregulation of cell proliferation. 
They may be novel biomarkers for early detection or therapeutic targets of 
ovarian cancer.