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Plasma microRNA a diagnostic tool for early-stage liver cancer
Zhou J. J Clin Oncol. 2011;doi:10.1200/JCO.2011.38.2697.
Researchers in China have concluded that a microRNA panel “provided a high diagnostic accuracy” as a screen for hepatocellular carcinoma.
From August 2008 to June 2010, healthy controls and patients with hepatitis B, cirrhosis and hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were recruited into a study investigating microRNA expression. Researchers started by using a microarray to screen 723 microRNAs in 137 plasma samples and discovered 15 microRNAs that were associated with HCC.
Those 15 microRNAs were subjected to quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction assay in an independent cohort of plasma samples for 102 participants. Researchers discovered seven microRNAs — miR-122, miR-192, miR-21, miR-223, miR-26a, miR-27a and miR-801 — that were differentially expressed between the three groups.
Finally, researchers used an independent cohort of 390 samples to validate the performance of the selected microRNA panel. All seven microRNAs were found to be significant predictors for HCC. The area under the curve (AUC) for the microRNA panel was 0.864 (95% CI, 0.826-0.895; sensitivity=68.6%, specificity=90.1%). AUC results for the panel showed that diagnostic performance held up independent of disease status.
The analysis demonstrated that the microRNA panel had high accuracy in discriminating patients with HCC from healthy people (AUC=0.941; 95% CI, 0.905-0.966; sensitivity=83.2%, specificity=93.9%), patients with hepatitis B virus (AUC= 0.842; 95% CI, 0.792-0.883; sensitivity=79.1%, specificity=76.4%) and patients with cirrhosis (AUC=0.884; 95% CI, 0.838-0.921; sensitivity=75%, specificity=91.1%).
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