title: Identification of serum miR-139-3p as a non-invasive biomarker for colorectal cancer.
abstract: Aberrant levels of circulating microRNAs are potential biomarkers for the early detection of colorectal cancer. The aim of this study was to study miR-139-3p and miR-622 in serum as a non-invasive biomarker for colorectal cancer diagnosis. We applied quantitative polymerase chain reaction to determine the levels of miR-139-3p and miR-622 in 42 pairs of tumor and adjacent non-tumor tissues, and in serum samples of 117 patients and 90 control subjects. Our results showed that miR-139-3p was silenced whereas miR-622 was overexpressed in colorectal cancer. Similarly, serum miR-139-3p level was significantly lower in colorectal cancer patients than in control subjects whereas miR-622 was more frequently detectable in patients. ROC analysis showed that AUC of miR-139-3p was 0.9935, with a sensitivity of 96.6% and specificity of 97.8%. Serum miR-139-3p level showed high sensitivity and specificity for both early and late stage CRCs and proximal and distal CRCs. Detectable serum miR-622 showed a sensitivity of 87.5% and specificity of 63.5% for discriminating CRC patients, but the sensitivity dropped for late stage patients (72.7%). We also included analyses of the blood CEA level for comparing the diagnostic performance of these blood-based biomarkers. The median level in CRC patients (3.6 ng/ml) was significantly higher than that in control (1.8 ng/ml). The AUC value of CEA in diagnosing CRC patients was 0.7515. CEA showed a positive correlation with tumor stage and age of patients and its level was higher in male. Collectively, serum miR-139-3p has strong potential as a promising non-invasive biomarker in colorectal cancer detection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Lui
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Timothy Ming-Hun
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Johnny Hon-Wai
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Man
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Ariel Ka-Man
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Chow
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Deepak
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Iyer
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Guanghua
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Centre for Cancer Research, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Thomas Chung-Cheung
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Yau
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Oswens Siu-Hung
authors.initials: OS
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Dominic Chi-Chung
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Foo
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Jensen Tung-Chung
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Poon
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Wai-Keung
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.|Centre for Cancer Research, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Roberta Wen-Chi
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Wai-Lun
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Law
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics*; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D000073890:Liquid Biopsy; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012372:ROC Curve; D047368:Tumor Burden
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C555098:MIRN139 microRNA, human; C560103:MIRN622 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: CRC; biomarker; miR-139-3p; miR-622; miRNA