MicroRNA profiling in serum and correlation with tumor tissue and clinicopathological parameters in periampullary...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and progression. This pilot study evaluated whether circulating miRNAs correlate with tumor tissue expression and clinicopathological parameters in periampullary carcinoma (PACA) patients.

Thirty-nine PACA patients who underwent pancreatoduodenectomy (April 2021-March 2024) were enrolled. Total RNA from preoperative serum and tumor tissue was isolated using the miRNeasy kit (Qiagen). Quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction was performed for 14 PACA-related miRNAs, with U6 small nuclear RNA as a reference (ΔCt = CtmiRNA - CtU6 for normalization); relative expression was calculated as ΔΔCt = ΔCtcases - ΔCtcontrols.

The study comprised 28 male patients with median age of 56 years (interquartile range 51-63). The predominant tumor location was ampulla (43.6%), followed by distal common bile duct (23.1%). Serum ΔCt analysis showed significant differences for miR‑199, miR‑31, miR‑329, and miR‑19, with downregulation of miR‑195 and miR‑375; after false discovery rate adjustment, miR‑199, miR‑31, miR‑329, miR‑195 and miR‑375 remained significant, whereas the serum miR‑19 difference was only nominal (p = 0.050). In tumor tissue, miR‑199, miR‑329, and miR‑19 were upregulated (ΔΔCt -2.75, -0.87, and -1.82, respectively), while miR‑31 was downregulated (ΔΔCt 2.27) compared with controls. Serum miR‑19 ΔCt showed a weak correlation with CA 19-9 (Spearman's ρ = 0.31, p = 0.049). Subgroup analyses revealed no significant differences in miRNA expression across histological subtypes or tumor stages.

Serum miR‑199 and miR‑19 showed exploratory concordance between circulating and tumor tissue expression in PACA, but their clinical utility remains limited and requires validation in a larger cohort.