title: Expression of miR-148/152 family as potential biomarkers in non-small-cell lung cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Altered miR-148/152 family expression contributes to human carcinogenesis. This study was designed to detect the potential for using miR-148/152 family as biomarkers for NSCLC patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  The relative expression levels of miR-148/152 family (miR-148a, miR-148b, and miR-152) in serum of 36 non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) patients, 20 patients with benign pulmonary diseases (BPD), and 10 healthy individuals were assessed by real-time reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The expression of all three miRNAs were significantly lower in the serum of NSCLC than that of BPD and healthy controls (all p<0.01), and their expression levels were strongly correlated with each other (r=0.781, 0.720, and 0.645, respectively). Downregulation of miR-148/152 family was found to be corrected with more aggressive tumors. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) for miR-148a, miR-148b, and miR-152 discriminating NSCLC from BPD were 0.775, 0.725, and 0.774, respectively, all higher than that of CEA (0.506). Combining the three miRNAs increased the discrimination performance, yielding an AUC of 0.789 (95% confidence interval, 0.643 to 0.895), with a sensitivity of 72.2% and a specificity of 90.0%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of present study suggest that the expression levels of circulating miR-148/152 family may serve as biomarkers for NSCLC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, China (mainland).
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, China (mainland).
authors.forename: Ye-ye
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, China (mainland).
authors.forename: Shan-qing
authors.initials: SQ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, China (mainland).
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, China (mainland).
authors.forename: Ying-zhi
authors.initials: YZ
authors.lastname: Qin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000097:blood; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D059467:Transcriptome
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen; C550570:MIRN148 microRNA, human; C550856:MIRN152 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs