title: A novel serum microRNA signature to screen esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
abstract: Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) have been used as promising diagnostic biomarkers for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). We performed miRNA expression profiling using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) based Exiqon panels from three ESCC pools and one normal control (NC) pool samples. Using qRT-PCR, identified serum miRNAs were further confirmed in training (32 ESCC vs. 32 NCs) and testing stages (108 ESCC vs. 96 NCs). Consequently, five serum miRNAs (miR-20b-5p, miR-28-3p, miR-192-5p, miR-223-3p, and miR-296-5p) were significantly overexpressed in ESCC compared with NCs. The diagnostic value of the 5-miRNA signature was validated by an external cohort (60 ESCC vs. 60 NCs). The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) of the 5-miRNA signature were 0.753, 0.763, and 0.966 for the training, testing, and the external validation stages, respectively. The expression levels of the miRNAs were also determined in tissues, arterial serum, and exosomes. MiR-20b-5p, miR-28-3p, and miR-192-5p were significantly upregulated in ESCC tissues, while miR-296-5p was overexpressed in ESCC serum exosomes. In conclusion, we identified a 5-miRNA signature in serum for the detection of ESCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, 300 Guangzhou Road, Nanjing, 210029, China.
authors.forename: Zebo
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, 300 Guangzhou Road, Nanjing, 210029, China.
authors.forename: Lan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, 185 Juqian Street, Changzhou, 213003, China.
authors.forename: Danxia
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiration, The Affiliated Jiangning Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, 168 Gushan Road, Nanjing, 210009, China.
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shan
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, 300 Guangzhou Road, Nanjing, 210029, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines and Department of Pharmacognosy, China Pharmaceutical University, No. 24 Tongjia Lane, Nanjing, 210009, China.
authors.forename: Lian-Wen
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital, No. 42 Bai Zi Ting, Nanjing, 210009, China.
authors.forename: Lirong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital, No. 42 Bai Zi Ting, Nanjing, 210009, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, 300 Guangzhou Road, Nanjing, 210029, China.
authors.forename: Wenfang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, 300 Guangzhou Road, Nanjing, 210029, China.
authors.forename: Huo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, 300 Guangzhou Road, Nanjing, 210029, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, 300 Guangzhou Road, Nanjing, 210029, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, 300 Guangzhou Road, Nanjing, 210029, China.|Cancer Center of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, China.
authors.forename: Tongshan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, 300 Guangzhou Road, Nanjing, 210029, China.|Cancer Center of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, China.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D019540:Area Under Curve; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D000077277:Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods*; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012372:ROC Curve; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: Circulating microRNA; ESCC; diagnostic biomarker; qRT-PCR