title: Identification of 9 serum microRNAs as potential noninvasive biomarkers of human astrocytoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) are emerging as promising biomarkers for human cancer. In the current study, we investigated the potential use of serum miRNAs as biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis in a cohort of Chinese astrocytoma patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  An initial screening of the circulating miRNA expression profile was performed on pooled serum samples from 10 preoperative patients and 10 healthy controls using a TaqMan low-density array. The selected serum miRNAs were then validated in 90 preoperative patients and 110 healthy controls who were randomly divided into a training set and a validation set. An additional double-blind test was performed in 50 astrocytomas and 50 controls to assess the serum miRNA-based biomarker accuracy in predicting astrocytoma. The differentially expressed miRNAs were evaluated in paired preoperative and postoperative serum samples from 73 astrocytoma patients. The correlation of the miRNA levels with survival in astrocytoma samples was estimated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Nine serum miRNAs were significantly increased in the astrocytoma patients. The biomarker composed of these 9 miRNAs had high sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy. These 9 miRNAs were markedly decreased in the serum after operation. The upregulation of miR-20a-5p, miR-106a-5p, and miR-181b-5p was associated with advanced clinical stages of astrocytoma. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the high expression of miR-19a-3p, miR-106a-5p, and miR-181b-5p was significantly associated with poor patient survival. Finally, the combined 3-miRNAs panel was an important prognostic predictor, independent of other clinicopathological factors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results indicated the potential of serum miRNAs as novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for human astrocytoma.
authors.affiliation: Modern Medical Research Center, Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, China (F.Z., D.D., L.X., Y.Y.); Department of Neurosurgery, Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, China (N.S., R.W., Q.W., Y.Z., Y.S., X.X., S.W.); Department of Neurosurgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China (N.S., Q.L.).
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhi
authors.affiliation: Modern Medical Research Center, Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, China (F.Z., D.D., L.X., Y.Y.); Department of Neurosurgery, Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, China (N.S., R.W., Q.W., Y.Z., Y.S., X.X., S.W.); Department of Neurosurgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China (N.S., Q.L.).
authors.forename: Naiyuan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.affiliation: Modern Medical Research Center, Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, China (F.Z., D.D., L.X., Y.Y.); Department of Neurosurgery, Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, China (N.S., R.W., Q.W., Y.Z., Y.S., X.X., S.W.); Department of Neurosurgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China (N.S., Q.L.).
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Modern Medical Research Center, Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, China (F.Z., D.D., L.X., Y.Y.); Department of Neurosurgery, Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, China (N.S., R.W., Q.W., Y.Z., Y.S., X.X., S.W.); Department of Neurosurgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China (N.S., Q.L.).
authors.forename: Danni
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Modern Medical Research Center, Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, China (F.Z., D.D., L.X., Y.Y.); Department of Neurosurgery, Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, China (N.S., R.W., Q.W., Y.Z., Y.S., X.X., S.W.); Department of Neurosurgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China (N.S., Q.L.).
authors.forename: Lian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.affiliation: Modern Medical Research Center, Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, China (F.Z., D.D., L.X., Y.Y.); Department of Neurosurgery, Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, China (N.S., R.W., Q.W., Y.Z., Y.S., X.X., S.W.); Department of Neurosurgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China (N.S., Q.L.).
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Modern Medical Research Center, Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, China (F.Z., D.D., L.X., Y.Y.); Department of Neurosurgery, Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, China (N.S., R.W., Q.W., Y.Z., Y.S., X.X., S.W.); Department of Neurosurgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China (N.S., Q.L.).
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Modern Medical Research Center, Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, China (F.Z., D.D., L.X., Y.Y.); Department of Neurosurgery, Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, China (N.S., R.W., Q.W., Y.Z., Y.S., X.X., S.W.); Department of Neurosurgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China (N.S., Q.L.).
authors.forename: Yimin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Modern Medical Research Center, Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, China (F.Z., D.D., L.X., Y.Y.); Department of Neurosurgery, Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, China (N.S., R.W., Q.W., Y.Z., Y.S., X.X., S.W.); Department of Neurosurgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China (N.S., Q.L.).
authors.forename: Xiwei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: Modern Medical Research Center, Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, China (F.Z., D.D., L.X., Y.Y.); Department of Neurosurgery, Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, China (N.S., R.W., Q.W., Y.Z., Y.S., X.X., S.W.); Department of Neurosurgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China (N.S., Q.L.).
authors.forename: Suinuan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Modern Medical Research Center, Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, China (F.Z., D.D., L.X., Y.Y.); Department of Neurosurgery, Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, China (N.S., R.W., Q.W., Y.Z., Y.S., X.X., S.W.); Department of Neurosurgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China (N.S., Q.L.).
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Lan
authors.affiliation: Modern Medical Research Center, Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, China (F.Z., D.D., L.X., Y.Y.); Department of Neurosurgery, Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, China (N.S., R.W., Q.W., Y.Z., Y.S., X.X., S.W.); Department of Neurosurgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China (N.S., Q.L.).
authors.forename: Yilin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D044466:Asian People; D001254:Astrocytoma / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: astrocytoma; diagnosis; prognosis; serum microRNA