Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 4, 2026

MicroRNA Based Liquid Biopsy: The Experience of the Plasma miRNA Signature Classifier MSC for Lung Cancer Screening
Published on: October 26, 2017
Four-miRNA Signature to Identify Asbestos-Related Lung Malignancies
Lory Santarelli1, Simona Gaetani2, Federica Monaco2
1Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, Section of Occupational Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy. m.tomasetti@staff.univpm.it l.santarelli@staff.univpm.it.
Background:
Altered miRNA expression is an early event upon exposure to occupational/environmental carcinogens; thus, identification of a novel asbestos-related profile of miRNAs able to distinguish asbestos-induced cancer from cancer with different etiology can be useful for diagnosis. We therefore performed a study to identify miRNAs associated with asbestos-induced malignancies.
Methods:
Four groups of patients were included in the study, including patients with asbestos-related (NSCLCAsb) and asbestos-unrelated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) or with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), and disease-free subjects (CTRL). The selected miRNAs were evaluated in asbestos-exposed population.
Results:
Four serum miRNAs, that is miR-126, miR-205, miR-222, and miR-520g, were found to be implicated in asbestos-related malignant diseases. Notably, increased expression of miR-126 and miR-222 were found in asbestos-exposed subjects, and both miRNAs are involved in major pathways linked to cancer development. Epigenetic changes and cancer-stroma cross-talk could induce repression of miR-126 to facilitate tumor formation, angiogenesis, and invasion.
Conclusions:
This study indicates that miRNAs are potentially involved in asbestos-related malignancies, and their expression outlines mechanism(s) whereby miRNAs may be involved in an asbestos-induced pathogenesis.
Impact:
The discovery of a miRNA panel for asbestos-related malignancies would impact on occupational compensation and may be utilized for screening asbestos-exposed populations.
Related Concept Videos
Lung Capacity
Identifying Statistically Significant Differences: The F-Test
Pleura of the Lungs
Gross Anatomy of the Lungs
Design Example: Identifying the Locations of Monuments in the Field Using Global Positioning System Device
MicroRNAs

