Let-7c is a Candidate Biomarker for Cervical Intraepithelial Lesions: A Pilot Study

Numerous studies have been performed to discover predictive/prognostic biomarkers for human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and cervical cancer development. More recently, microRNAs were suggested as possible biomarkers of HPV-associated cancers and our aim was to characterize the expression of let-7c in exfoliated cervical cells from women with cervical intraepithelial lesions.

Let-7c expression was evaluated by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction in 73 women with normal or cervical intraepithelial lesions: normal epithelium with (n = 17) and without (n = 21) HPV infection; low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (n = 14); and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (n = 21).

Data showed a trend to down-regulation in women with low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (2(-ΔΔCt) = 0.38, p = 0.06) and a significant decreased expression of let-7c in women with low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (2(-ΔΔCt) = 0.21; p = 0.004). The combined analysis of all cervical intraepithelial lesions revealed a down-regulation of let-7c expression (2(-ΔΔCt) = 0.27; p = 0.011).

Our results showed that let-7c expression is significantly changed in the different cervical intraepithelial lesions and its levels should be further investigated as a possible biomarker for cervical intraepithelial lesions using exfoliated cervical cells as the sample source.