Plasma miR-22-3p, miR-642b-3p and miR-885-5p as diagnostic biomarkers for pancreatic cancer.

BACKGROUND: Diagnosis of pancreatic cancer (PC) by using sensitive and specific biomarkers is considered necessary. MiRNAs are master regulators of gene expression and several biological processes, and they are dysregulated in various cancers, where they play a vital role in either cancer progression or suppression. So, this study was designed to investigate the role of plasma miR-22-3p, miR-642b-3p and miR-885-5p expression as possible diagnostic markers in PC patients as compared to serum CA19-9. In addition, the correlation of those miRNAs and CA19-9 with clinical characteristics of PC patients was analyzed. METHODS: The expression levels of selected miRNAs and serum CA19-9 concentration were determined for 35 patients with PDAC and 15 healthy controls by quantitative real-time RT-PCR and electro-chemiluminescence immune assay, respectively. The sensitivities of miRNAs as biomarkers of PC were evaluated and compared with CA19-9 using a receiver operating characteristic analysis. RESULTS: The levels of three miRNAs (miR-22-3p, miR-642b-3p and miR-885-5p) and CA19-9 were significantly higher in PC patients, even those with early-stage disease (IB and IIB), than in healthy control. Both miRNAs and CA19-9 were associated with tumor stage. The high sensitivities of the three selected miRNAs and CA19-9 were observed. CONCLUSION: The measurement of miR-22-3p, miR-642b-3p and miR-885-5p may prove to have clinical utility in diagnosis of PC. Those miRNAs are ideal early biomarkers for PC diagnosis. So, they can effectively be used with serum CA19-9 for PC screening in early tumor stage.

Cell-free DNA concentration and integrity as a screening tool for cancer.

AIM OF THE STUDY: This study aims to evaluate cell-free DNA (CFDNA) concentration and integrity in patients with malignant and nonmalignant diseases and in controls to investigate their value as a screening test for cancer, and to correlate them with clinicopathological parameters of cancer patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included three groups; group I: 120 cancer patients, group II: 120 patients with benign diseases and group III: 120 normal healthy volunteers as control. One plasma sample was collected from each subject. CFDNA was purified from the plasma then its concentration was measured and integrity was assessed by PCR amplification of 100, 200, 400, and 800 bp bands. RESULTS: There was a highly significant difference in CFDNA levels between cancer group and each of benign and control groups. AUC of ROC curve for cancer group versus normal and benign groups were 0.962 and 0.895, which indicated the efficiency of CFDNA as a marker of cancer. As for integrity, normal and benign subjects showed only two bands at 100 and 200 bp, while all cancer patients demonstrated the 400 bp band and 78% of them had the 800 bp whose presence correlated with vascular invasion. CONCLUSION: The combined use of CFDNA concentration and integrity is a candidate for a universal screening test of cancer. Upon setting suitable boundaries for the test it might be applied to identify cancer patients, particularly among subjects with predisposing factors. Being less expensive, CFDNA concentration could be applied for mass screening and for patients with values overlapping those of normal and benign subjects, the use of the more expensive, yet more specific, integrity test is suggested.

Effect of concommitant Helicobacter pylori infection in patients with Giardiasis lamblia in Egypt.

Giardiasis is one of the most common enteroprotozoal diseases; its association with Helicobacter pylori is a common clinical finding. This work studied the impact of such association. Fifty giardiasis patients were classified into two groups according to the concomitant presence of H. pylori and ten normal healthy controls were also included. All patients were subjected to complete history taking, thorough clinical and stool examination, endoscopy, and biopsy of gastric and duodenal mucosa as well as histopatological examination. Results revealed significant upper gastrointestinal symptoms (epigastric pain and anorexia) in giardiasis patients with H. pylori. Also, endoscopic and histopathologic examination showed significant gastric lesions in this group of patients as compared to those suffering only G. lamblia.

Impact of coinfection with Schistosoma mansoni on Helicobacter pylori induced disease.

The impact of concomitant S. mansoni infection on H. pylori induced gastritis was studied in twenty patients infected exclusively with H. pylori. The patients were compared with twenty patients coinfected with the bacteria and S. mansoni and twelve patients with schistosomiasis alone. All patients were subjected to clinical, parasitological, endoscopic and histopathological studies. In addition, serum malondialdehyde level (MDA), as an indicator of lipid peroxidation was measured. The results of revealed that severe gastritis was significantly more common in the patients infected exclusively with H. pylori. Serum MDA was significantly higher in this group compared to the other groups. The results were discussed.