Values of fecal microRNA-141, -17-3p and -92a-3p in the diagnosis and prognostic evaluation of colorectal cancer / 肿瘤

ABSTRACT

Objective: To explore the values of fecal mircoRNA (miRNA, miR) in diagnosis and prognostic evaluation of colorectal cancer. Methods: Fifty colorectal cancer patients and fifty healthy controls were included in this study. The contents of fecal miR-141, miR-17-3p and miR-92a-3p in all subjects were detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR before operation. The differences of the three mircoRNA levels between the two groups were analyzed. Then the diagnostic efficiency of the three miRNAs for colorectal cancer was assessed by using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Furthermore, the differences of fecal miR-141 and miR-92a-3p levels in colorectal cancer patients between preoperation and postoperation (6 months after operation) were analyzed. The recurrence of colorectal cancer patients in 12 months after operation was followed up, then the differences between postoperative and preoperative fecal miR-141 contents in patients with and without recurrence were analyzed. Results: The levels of fecal miR-141 and miR-92a-3p in colorectal cancer group were significantly higher than those in the control group (both P < 0.01). There was no significant difference in fecal miR-17-3p level between the two groups (P = 0.30). ROC curve analysis showed that the areas under the curve (AUC) of fecal miR-141 and miR-92a-3p were 0.874 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.803-0.946] and 0.789 (95% CI 0.703-0.876), respectively. The level of fecal miR-141 in colorectal cancer patients 6 months after operation was significantly lower than that before operation (P < 0.01), while there was no significantly difference between postoperative and preoperative fecal miR-92a-3p levels (P = 0.08). The difference between postoperative and preoperative fecal miR-141 contents in 4 patients with recurrence was significantly less than that in 46 patients without recurrence (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The fecal miR-141 and miR-92a-3p were highly expressed in patients with colorectal cancer, so that they may be used as the non-invasive biomarkers for the auxiliary diagnosis of colorectal cancer. In particular, the fecal miR-141 may have a certain value in evaluating the surgical outcomes and prognosis of colorectal cancer, as well as monitoring the postoperative recurrence.