MicroRNA Expression in Plasma of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients

Abstract

Background Patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) have a poor prognosis and there are no effective clinical biomarkers. Recently, stable microRNAs detected in the blood have been suggested as potential biomarkers in various cancers. Therefore, we investigated whether plasma microRNAs could be feasible biomarkers for ESCC. Methods Peripheral blood samples were obtained from 16 healthy volunteers and 66 ESCC patients before treatment between May 2016 and April 2021. Plasma miR-18b, miR-21, miR-31, and miR-375 expression levels were measured using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Results Compared with those in healthy controls, the expression levels of plasma miR-21 were significantly higher ( P = 0.022) and those of plasma miR-31 and miR-375 were significantly lower in ESCC patients (both P < 0.001). Plasma miR-18b expression levels increased in ESCC patients, but the difference was not significant ( P = 0.164). The sensitivities and specificities of miR-21, miR-31, and miR-375 for differentiating ESCC patients from healthy controls were 87.5% and 61.9%, 87.5% and 98.4%, and 87.5% and 100%, respectively. There was no difference in expression levels of plasma miR-21, miR-31, and miR-375 according to clinicopathological characteristics of sex, age, tumor size and location, histologic grade, and tumor-node-metastasis stage. Conclusion Our study demonstrated that plasma miR-21, miR-31, and miR-375 could be potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of ESCC. Particularly, plasma miR-31 and miR-375 showed high sensitivity and specificity for differentiating ESCC patients from healthy controls.

Computational Linguistic Analysis for the Isolation of Propitious miRNA Bio- indicators in Esophageal Cancer

“…In the context of early diagnosis, a microRNA-based liquid biopsy signature has been formulated for the early detection of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, substantiated by a comprehensive retrospective, prospective, and multicenter study 31,32 . The integration of autoantibodies against tumorassociated antigens with microRNAs in the detection of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma has also been examined 33 .Additionally, the employment of plasmonic nanobiosensors for the detection of microRNA cancer biomarkers in clinical samples 34 , circulating plasma microRNAs in the detection of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma 35 , and the diagnostic potential of miR-18a and miR-21 in esophageal cancer have been explored 36 .…”

Identification of combinatorial miRNA panels derived from extracellular vesicles as biomarkers for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

“…All statistics were calculated using GraphPad Prism (version 8.3.0) and SPSS (IBM, version 22.0). Additionally, the abnormally expressed miRNAs in plasma/plasma‐derived EVs between the ESCC patients and HCs were compared using the Mann–Whitney U test 12 . FC was calculated based on the median expression of the two groups of samples.…”

“…Additionally, the abnormally expressed miRNAs in plasma/plasma‐derived EVs between the ESCC patients and HCs were compared using the Mann–Whitney U test. 12 FC was calculated based on the median expression of the two groups of samples. FC > 1.5 or FC < 0.67, p value < 0.05 as the significant level.…”

“…Meanwhile, microRNA (miRNA), which is a quantitative dominant RNA cargo of EVs, has emerged as a feasible diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in ESCC. For example, a study confirmed that the plasma miR‐21 expression levels were significantly higher, while the plasma miR‐31 and miR‐375 expression levels were significantly lower in ESCC patients compared with healthy controls (HCs), thus the plasma‐derived miR‐21, miR‐31, and miR‐375 could be potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of ESCC 12 . In the part of vesicle‐free miRNA which is mainly associated with the argonaute protein family, EV‐derived miRNAs have also been recognized as promising biomarkers for disease diagnosis.…”

“…For example, a study confirmed that the plasma miR‐21 expression levels were significantly higher, while the plasma miR‐31 and miR‐375 expression levels were significantly lower in ESCC patients compared with healthy controls (HCs), thus the plasma‐derived miR‐21, miR‐31, and miR‐375 could be potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of ESCC. 12 In the part of vesicle‐free miRNA which is mainly associated with the argonaute protein family, EV‐derived miRNAs have also been recognized as promising biomarkers for disease diagnosis. For example, plasma EV‐derived miR‐125a‐3p was significantly increased in colorectal cancer, which has an important diagnostic ability for early colorectal cancer.…”