ABSTRACT
Objective:To investigate the expression and clinical significance of plasma microRNA-21 (miRNA-21) and microRNA-200b (miRNA-200b) in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC).Methods:The levels of plasma miRNA-200b,miRNA-21 and CA125 were detected by RT-PCR in 162 patients with EOC,120 patients with benign epithelial ovarian tumors(benign group) and 108 healthy women(control group),analyze the relation between miRNA-200b and miRNA-21 expression and clinicopathological features of EOC.The sensitivity and specificity of miRNA-200b,miRNA-21 and CA125 to EOC diagnosis were evaluated by ROC curve,and the re-lationship between three indexes and EOC was analyzed by multivariate Logistic regression model.Correlation analysis of plasma miRNA-200b and miRNA-21,CA125 in patients with EOC by Pearson correlation.Results:The levels of plasma miRNA-200b,miRNA-21 and CA125 in EOC group were significantly higher than those in benign group and control group[miRNA-200b(2-ΔΔCt):3.52±1.03 vs 1.26±0.37 and 1.15±0.34;miRNA-21(2-ΔΔCt):2.32±0.45 vs 1.18±0.32 and 1.04±0.28;CA125(U/ml):78.64±30.57 vs 26.27±11.36 and 21.53±9.45,all P<0.01].Plasma miRNA-200b,miRNA-21,CA125 and three combined diagnosis EOC of AUC (95% CI) were 0.896(0.834-0.958),0.792(0.731-0.847),0.908(0.841-0.973),0.947(0.883-0.995),the optimal cut-off values were 2.08,1.46,52.84 U/ml.Logistic regression analysis showed that elevated plasma levels of miRNA-200b,miRNA-21 and CA125 were independent risk factors for EOC[OR(95% CI)= 2.518(1.563-3.547),OR(95% CI)= 1.724(1.103-2.528),OR (95% CI)=2.316(1.347-3.419)].The correlation between plasma miRNA-200b and CA125 in patients with EOC was the best(r=0.702,P<0.01).Conclusion:Plasma miRNA-200b and miRNA-21 can be used as molecular markers for the early diagnosis of EOC, and their diagnostic efficacy is comparable to that of CA125.The combined use of the three methods is expected to improve the accuracy of early diagnosis of EOC.