Clinical Impact of Oncomirs 221 and 222 on Breast Cancer Diagnosis

Abstract

Background Dysregulation of miRNAs, non-coding RNAs of 18-25 ( ̴ 22nt), is a hallmark of malignancies among them is breast cancer. The present study aimed to investigate the expression levels of circulating oncomiRNAs (miRNA-221and miRNA-222) as a minimally non-invasive method for early detection of breast cancer as compared to tumor markers (CEA, CA15.3). Materials and methods MiRNA-221 and miRNA-222 expression levels were determined using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) in serum samples from three groups: primary breast cancer patients (n = 44), benign breast lesion patients (n = 25), and healthy individuals as control group (n = 19). Their diagnostic efficacy and relation with clinicopathological data were analyzed. Results MiRNA-221 and miRNA-222 expression and tumor markers reported significant increase in their mean levels in breast cancer group as compared to the benign breast lesions or control individuals. Among clinicopathological factors, miRs reported significant relation with pathological types, clinical staging, histological grading and hormonal status, while CEA and CA15.3 did not revealed significance with these factors. The diagnostic efficacy for investigated miRNAs was superior to tumor markers especially for detection of early stages and low grade tumors. Conclusion MiRNA-221 and miRNA-222 were superior over tumor markers for early detection of breast cancer especially those at high risk as primarybreast cancer patients with early stage or low grade tumors.