The expression of microRNAs in serum of patients with colorectal cancer and its clinical significance / 中华检验医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the expression characteristic of serum mir-16,mir-21,mir-29a, mir-92a and mir-143 in colorectal cancer , evaluate the clinical significance of candidate miRNAs in CRC diagnosis.Methods Case-control study was used.The expression levels of serum mir-16,mir-21,mir-29a, mir-92a and mir-143 from 50 CRC patients and 27 normal controls were detected by real-time PCR, the levels of miRNAs expression in serum of 8 CRC patients 1 day before and 7 days after radical surgery were analyzed.The sensitivity and specificity of serum miRNAs expression for the diagnosis of colorectal cancer were evaluated using the receiver operating characteristic ( ROC) curve.Results The expression level of mir-16, miR-21, mir-92a in serum of patients with CRC were (75.55 ±37.73), (35.96 ±23.81), (24.79 ±8.97) fmol/ml, significantly higher than that of the healthy control group (32.73 ±18.94), (24.36 ±13.27), (16.36 ±5.58) fmol/ml (tmir-16 =2.77, tmir-21 =2.34, tmir-92a =3.85,P 0.05).In addition, serum miR-16 and miR-92a levels of CRC patients 7 days after tumor resection were (36.02 ±19.95), (14.82 ±7.78) fmol/ml, significantly lower than that before operation (62.18 ±34.17), (24.06 ±12.99) fmol/ml (tmir-16 =3.59, tmir-92a =2.60,P<0.05).Area under the ROC curve ( AUC) of combined detection of mir-16, miR-21and mir-92a was 0.877, the sensitivity and specificity were 88% and 85%, respectively, which was higher than any of 3 miRNAs alone and the conventional tumor marker CEA.Conclusion Combination of mir-16, mir-21 and mir-92a in the diagnosis of CRC shows a better sensitivity and specificity , which would be expected as new tumor biomarkers for noninvasive diagnosis and monitoring progression of colorectal cancer.