Identification of potential biomarkers for diagnosis of pancreatic and biliary tract cancers by sequencing of serum microRNAs.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Pancreatic and biliary tract cancer (PC and BTC, respectively) are difficult to diagnose because of their clinical characteristics; however, recent studies suggest that serum microRNAs (miRNAs) might be the key to developing more efficient diagnostic methods for these cancers. METHODS:We analysed the genome-wide expression of serum miRNAs in PC and BTC patients to identify novel biomarker candidates using high-throughput sequencing and experimentally validated miRNAs on clinical samples. RESULTS:Statistical and classification analysis of the serum miRNA-expression profiles of 55 patient samples showed distinguishable patterns between cancer patients and healthy controls; however, we were unable to distinguish the two cancers. We found that three of the highest performing miRNAs were capable of distinguishing cancer patients from controls, with an accuracy of 92.7%. Additionally, dysregulation of these three cancer-specific miRNAs was demonstrated in an independent sample group by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. CONCLUSIONS:These results suggested three candidate serum miRNAs (mir-744-5p, mir-409-3p, and mir-128-3p) as potential biomarkers for PC and BTC diagnosis.

SUBMITTER: Kim K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6524273 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature