Circulating MiR-1290 as a Potential Diagnostic and Disease Monitoring Biomarker of Human Gastrointestinal Tumors

Abstract

BackgroundGastrointestinal tumors are a leading cause of mortality worldwide. Our previous research demonstrated that miR-1290 is overexpressed in colorectal cancer (CRC) and promotes tumor progression. We therefore aimed to explore the potential of circulating miR-1290 as a biomarker for gastrointestinal cancer.MethodsSerum miRNA sequence analysis was performed. Then, circulating miRNA detection technologies were established. miR-1290 expression levels in gastrointestinal tumor cell lines and cellular supernatants were analyzed. Expression levels of circulating miR-1290 in clinical samples were examined. Associations between miR-1290 expression and clinicopathologic characteristics were analyzed. Xenograft models were conducted to assess the fluctuation of serum miR-1290 during disease progression.ResultsThrough miRNA sequencing, we identified that miR-1290 was overexpressed in CRC serum. We confirmed that human gastrointestinal tumor cells express and secret miR-1290. Circulating miR-1290 was up-regulated in pancreatic cancer (PC) (p < 0.01), CRC (p < 0.05), and gastric cancer (GC) (p < 0.01). High expression levels of miR-1290 were associated with tumor size, lymphatic invasion, vascular invasion, distant metastasis, tumor differentiation and AJCC stage in PC and CRC. The area under the curve (AUC) was 0.8857 in PC, with 60.9% sensitivity and 90.0% specificity. The AUC was 0.7852 in CRC, with 42.0% sensitivity and 90.0% specificity. In GC, the AUC was 0.6576, with 26.0% sensitivity and 90.0% specificity. The in vivo model verified that circulating miR-1290 levels significantly increased after tumor formation and decreased after drug treatment.ConclusionsOur findings demonstrate that circulating miR-1290 is a potential diagnostic and disease monitoring biomarker in gastrointestinal cancer.