Blood miRNAs miR-549a, miR-552, and miR-592 serve as potential disease-specific panels to diagnose colorectal cancer

Soroush Akbar ¹, Samaneh Mashreghi ², Mohammad Reza Kalani ³

⁰Metabolic Disorders Research Center, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran.

Heliyon +

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April 4, 2024

View abstract on PubMed

Summary

This study identifies three specific microRNAs (miRNAs) for colorectal cancer (CRC) diagnosis. These CRC-specific miRNAs show high accuracy in distinguishing CRC from other cancers, aiding early detection.

Area Of Science

Biochemistry
Molecular Biology
Oncology

Background

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) from colorectal cancer (CRC) are promising biomarkers due to their stability in body fluids.
However, miRNAs from other organs may reduce the prognostic value of CRC biomarkers.
Identifying disease-specific miRNAs is crucial for accurate CRC diagnosis and prognosis.

Purpose Of The Study

To identify disease-specific microRNAs (miRNAs) for colorectal cancer (CRC) using bioinformatics and experimental validation.
To assess the diagnostic accuracy of identified miRNAs in CRC tissues and serum samples.
To evaluate the association of these miRNAs with clinicopathological characteristics and survival outcomes.

Main Methods

Retrieved miRNA profiles from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database for CRC and normal tissues.
Employed computational strategies to identify candidate CRC-specific miRNAs.
Validated miRNA expression using RT-qPCR in patient (N=46) and healthy (N=46) serum and tissue samples.

Main Results

Identified miR-549a, miR-552, and miR-592 as key expressed miRNAs in colorectal cancer (CRC).
miR-552 showed significant association with tumor stage (N and T), while miR-549a and miR-592 correlated with tumor depth and TNM stage, respectively.
Serum miRNA analysis demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy with an Area Under the Curve (AUC) up to 0.86.

Conclusions

The identified miRNAs (miR-549a, miR-552, miR-592) can serve as a panel for specific discrimination of CRC.
This panel offers potential for accurate early diagnosis of colorectal cancer.
The methodology can be extended to identify specific biomarkers for other cancer types.

Keywords:

Colorectal cancer RNA sequencing miRNAs