Advancing NSCLC Diagnosis: The Role of Tumor-Derived Serum Exosomal SNORD60 as a Novel Biomarker

Due to the lack of efficient diagnosis techniques, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) continues to be the main contributor to global death from cancer. Consequently, our research aims to identify reliable biomarkers for diagnosing non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) by using serum exosomal short nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs). Based on the databases, we selected SNORD60 and further verified it in 48 paired FFPE tissues. To define exosomes isolated from the serum, we conducted transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and qNano besides western blots. qRT-PCR helped further verify SNORD60 in exosomal serum from 132 NSCLC patients and 143 participants in good health. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) was employed to estimate the diagnostic efficacy of SNORD60, both alone and in combination with carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and cytokeratin 19 fragment (CYFRA21-1). SNORD60 was significantly overexpressed in tissues and serum exosomes of NSCLC patients compared to those of good-health individuals. To evaluate the effectiveness of diagnostic biomarkers for NSCLC and its early stage, serum exosomal SNORD60 was found to have the ability to be a diagnostic biomarker, as well as CEA or CYFRA21-1 with an exosomal combination of SNORD60. The exosomal level of SNORD60 is significantly overexpressed in patients with NSCLC, which offers a promising diagnostic biomarker of NSCLC.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12291-024-01230-y.