Plasma Extracellular Vesicle miRNAs Can Identify Lung Cancer, Current Smoking Status, and Stable COPD

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer related mortality worldwide. We aimed to test whether a simple blood biomarker (extracellular vesicle miRNAs) can discriminate between cases with and without lung cancer.

plasma extracellular vesicles (EVs) were isolated from four cohorts (n = 20 in each): healthy non-smokers, healthy smokers, lung cancer, and stable COPD participants. EV miRNA expression was evaluated using the miRCURY LNA miRNA Serum/Plasma assay for 179 specific targets. Significantly dysregulated miRNAs were assessed for discriminatory power using ROC curve analysis.

15 miRNAs were differentially expressed between lung cancer and healthy non-smoking participants, with the greatest single miRNA being miR-205-5p (AUC 0.850), improving to AUC 0.993 in combination with miR-199a-5p. Moreover, 26 miRNAs were significantly dysregulated between lung cancer and healthy smoking participants, with the greatest single miRNA being miR-497-5p (AUC 0.873), improving to AUC 0.953 in combination with miR-22-5p; 14 miRNAs were significantly dysregulated between lung cancer and stable COPD participants, with the greatest single miRNA being miR-27a-3p (AUC 0.803), with two other miRNAs (miR-106b-3p and miR-361-5p) further improving discriminatory power (AUC 0.870).

this case control study suggests miRNAs in EVs from plasma holds key biological information specific for lung cancer and warrants further prospective assessment.