Xianfeng Ding and Zhiguo Zheng
Serum α-fetoprotein (AFP) has been used as an early diagnostic biomarker of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), however the sensitivity and specificity of detection are poor. Therefore, new markers remain to be explored. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small RNAs which could contribute to tumorigenesis by interaction with targeted mRNAs. MiRNAs are abundant in the circulating blood and are potentially useful for early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma. In this study, we screened a group of candidate miRNAs (miR-182-5p, miR-363-3p, and miR-378a-3p) in serum, which were found to be up-regulated in HCC patients compared with in the healthy controls. Analysis of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve suggested that these three serum miRNAs had merits in the diagnosis of HCC (AUC=0.802, 0.845, 0.880, respectively). Furthermore, these candidate miRNAs can also differentiate HCC patients with negative AFP level from the healthy controls (AUC=0.865, 0.930, 0.970, respectively). In conclusion, our results suggested that serum miR-182-5p, miR-363-3p, and miR-378a-3p might be applied as potential non-invasive biomarkers for HCC diagnosis, which is especially important for AFP-negative patients.
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Molecular Biology: Open Access received 607 citations as per Google Scholar report
