Circulating miR-130b- and miR-21-based diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets for hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the histological types of primary liver cancer with high recurrence and mortality in the world. The purpose of this study was to explore the diagnostic and therapeutic value for HCC patients.

In this study, we investigated the circulating miR-130b-5p (miR-130b) and miR-21-5p (miR-21) expression levels in patients with HCC and their association with clinical parameters.

The circulating miR-130b and miR-21 were all upregulated in patients with HCC. The upregulated microRNAs (miRNAs) were associated with clinicopathological parameters of tumor capsular infiltration and clinical TNM stage. Also, the poor prognosis of patients with upregulated miRNAs levels suggested that it may be an effective therapeutic target for HCC by suppression of the miRNAs levels. In addition, the combined detection of serum miR-130b and miR-21 performed better in the diagnosis of HCC with a sensitivity of 92.16% and an accuracy rate of 77.51%. In vivo, tumors treated with the nanoparticle (NP)/miR-130b and miR-21 inhibitor complexes had significantly lower growth than the other groups.

The circulating miR-130b and miR-21 can be used as potential tumor biomarkers to diagnose liver cancer, and the combined detection of serum miR-130b and miR-21 is superior to the diagnosis of HCC. NP/miR-130b and miR-21 inhibitor complexes show good therapeutic effects in vivo and are expected to become therapeutic targets worthy of further study.