title: Blood-based miRNAs as noninvasive diagnostic and surrogative biomarkers in colorectal cancer.
abstract: Few studies have assessed circulating miRNAs in the blood of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. In the evaluated article, Kanaan et al. demonstrated that miR-21 may be a promising diagnostic plasma biomarker for CRC. They assessed miRNAs dysregulated in both tissue and blood samples from patients with CRC. A high-throughput microarray was used to first detect miRNAs deregulated in CRC compared with adjacent normal tissue. The three most upregulated and downregulated miRNAs were then measured in blood samples. Plasma miR-21 was able to correctly identify CRC with 90% specificity and sensitivity. In this article, we have considered the use of miRNAs as blood-based biomarkers for CRC.
authors.affiliation: HPB Surgical Unit, Department of Surgery & Cancer, Imperial College, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, Du Cane Road, London, W12 0HS, UK.
authors.forename: Tamara M H
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Gall
authors.forename: Adam E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Frampton
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Krell
authors.forename: Leandro
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Castellano
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stebbing
authors.forename: Long R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Jiao