Circulating miR-26b-5p and miR-451a as diagnostic biomarkers in medullary thyroid carcinoma patients

Abstract

Purpose/methods The determination of tumour biomarkers is paramount to advancing personalized medicine, more so in rare tumours like medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC), whose diagnosis is still challenging. The aim of this study was to identify non-invasive circulating biomarkers in MTC. To achieve this goal, paired MTC tissue and plasma extracellular vesicle samples were collected from multiple centres and microRNA (miRNA) expression levels were evaluated. Results The samples from a discovery cohort of 23 MTC patients were analysed using miRNA arrays. Lasso logistic regression analysis resulted in the identification of a set of circulating miRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers. Among them, miR-26b-5p and miR-451a, were highly expressed and their expression decreased during follow-up in disease-free patients in the discovery cohort. Circulating miR-26b-5p and miR-451a were validated using droplet digital PCR in a second independent cohort of 12 MTC patients. Conclusion This study allowed the identification and validation of a signature of two circulating miRNAs, miR-26b-5p and miR-451a, in two independent cohorts reporting a significant diagnostic performance for MTC. The results of this study offer advancements in molecular diagnosis of MTC proposing a novel non-invasive tool to use in precision medicine.

From Circulating Tumor Cells to Mirna: New Challenges in the Diagnosis and Prognosis of Medullary Thyroid Cancer

“…The diagnostic performance of the two miRNAs was validated in a second independent cohort of MTC patients and control subjects using digital PCR. ROC curve analyses confirmed the high diagnostic role of miR-26b-5p and miR-451a [49].…”

“…However, in this case, specificity and sensitivity were too low to propose this miRNA as a new circulating biomarker for MTC. Worth noting, only one study has been performed to date on plasma extracellular vesicles (pEVs) [49], which reported an upregulation in miR-26b-5p and miR-451a in MTC patients with significant diagnostic performance. These miRNAs had not been previously identified, probably due to the different biological samples used in other studies.…”

Circulating miR-451a, miR-5571-3p, CLN6, HSD11B1 and PDE4 levels in differential diagnosis of Granulomatous lobular mastitis, breast cancer and breast fibroadenoma

“…miR-451a is known to be involved in various cancers, including medullary thyroid carcinoma 29 , bladder cancer 30 , pancreatic cancer 31 , colorectal cancer 32 , and in ammatory diseases 33 . In a study conducted by Abdul et al, the relative expression levels of miRNAs in tumorous and normal adjacent tissues of Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients were determined using qRT-PCR.…”

MicroRNAs in thyroid cancer with focus on medullary thyroid carcinoma: potential therapeutic targets and diagnostic/prognostic markers and web based tools

“…The miR-451a and miR-26b-5p as potential markers for MTC expression levels were high in MTC patients, and their expression showed a decline in cancer-free patients during follow-up. The findings offer a promising approach for MTC diagnosis using miR-26b-5p and miR-451a, potentially leading to the development of more efficacious strategies for treating patients with MTC [ 38 ].…”