A differential microRNA profile distinguishes cholangiocarcinoma from pancreatic adenocarcinoma

Cancers of the bile duct and the pancreas are virtually indistinguishable using conventional histopathological and clinical characteristics. We sought to use microRNA (miR) profiling to differentiate these two cancers.

RNA was harvested from the tumors of patients undergoing curative resection for cholangiocarcinoma or pancreatic adenocarcinoma and compared with adjacent normal bile duct or pancreas, respectively. There were 31 pairs of cholangiocarcinoma with matched tumor and adjacent bile duct and nine pairs of pancreatic cancer with matched tumor and adjacent uninvolved pancreas that had sufficient quantity of RNA that were included in the final analysis. Differential microRNA expression profiles were determined using the nCounter System from nanoString Technologies (Seattle, WA,USA).

A total of 41 differentially expressed miRs were identified in cholangiocarcinoma (25 overexpressed, 16 underexpressed) and 52 differentially expressed miRs were found in pancreatic adenocarcinoma (30 overexpressed, 22 underexpressed) relative to adjacent normal tissue. Of these two profiles, 15 miRs were commonly dysregulated between tumor types. Also, eight miRs were similarly overexpressed or underexpressed in cholangiocarcinoma and pancreatic adenocarcinoma, whereas the other seven miRs had inverse expression levels.

Cholangiocarcinoma has a distinct miR profile from pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Discrimination between these two tumor types may be possible with as few as seven miRs.