title: Elevated level of microRNA-21 in the serum of patients with colorectal cancer.
abstract: In patients with colorectal cancer, circulating micro RNA-21 (miR-21) is overexpressed and may act as a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker. In the present study, serum miR-21 level was determined in patients with colorectal cancer and control subjects in an attempt to explore its potential clinical diagnostic and prognostic value. Serum levels of miR-21 were measured in 40 patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma and 40 control subjects using a quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) assay. Serum miR-21 levels were compared in the colorectal cancer patients and control subjects. Furthermore, the association between serum miR-21 level and the clinical stages of tumors was also examined in the patients. Serum miR-21 level was significantly elevated in colorectal adenocarcinoma patients relative to control subjects (P=0.0001), and it was revealed as a potential diagnostic biomarker for differentiating the patients from control subjects. Increased levels of serum miR-21 were associated with clinical stages of tumors in the patients (P=0.01). These results indicated that serum miR-21 levels could serve as a reliable diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for colorectal adenocarcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Faculty of Allied Medical Sciences, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran.
authors.forename: Gholam
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Basati
authors.forename: Amirnader
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Emami Razavi
authors.forename: Soheila
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abdi
authors.forename: Asad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mirzaei
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C524940:MIRN21 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs