Detection of miR-1246, miR-23a and miR-451 in sera of colorectal carcinoma patients: a case-control study in Cairo University hospital

Combinatorial Analysis of miRNAs and tRNA Fragments as Potential Biomarkers for Cancer Patients in Liquid Biopsies

Background: Liquid biopsy has gained significant attention as a non-invasive method for cancer detection and monitoring. IsomiRs and tRNA-derived fragments (tRFs) are small non-coding RNAs that arise from non-canonical microRNA (miRNAs) processing and the cleavage of tRNAs, respectively. These small non-coding RNAs have emerged as pro-mising cancer biomarkers, and their distinct expression patterns highlight the need for further exploration of their roles in cancer research. Methods: In this study, we investigated the differential expression profiles of miRNAs, isomiRs, and tRFs in plasma extracellular vesicles (EVs) from colorectal and prostate cancer patients compared to healthy controls. Subsequently, a combinatorial analysis using the CombiROC package was performed to identify a panel of biomarkers with optimal diagnostic accuracy. Results: Our results demonstrate that a combination of miRNAs, isomiRs, and tRFs can effectively di- stinguish cancer patients from healthy controls, achieving accuracy and an area under the curve (AUC) of approximately 80%. Conclusions: These findings highlight the potential of a combinatorial approach to small RNA analysis in liquid biopsies for improved cancer diagnosis and management.

Advances in microRNAs as Emerging Biomarkers for Colorectal Cancer Early Detection and Diagnosis

Colorectal cancer (CRC) remains the second most common cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide, necessitating advancements in early detection and innovative treatment strategies. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), small non-coding RNAs involved in gene regulation, have emerged as crucial players in the pathogenesis of CRC. This review synthesizes the latest findings on miRNA deregulated in precancerous lesions and in CRC. By examining the deregulation patterns of miRNAs across different stages of CRC development, this review highlights their potential as diagnostic tools. We specifically analyse the roles and diagnostic relevance of four miRNAs-miR-15b, miR-21, miR-31, and miR-146a-that consistently exhibit altered expression in CRC. The current knowledge of their role in key oncogenic pathways, drug resistance, and clinical relevance is discussed. Despite challenges posed by the heterogeneity of the research findings on miRNA deregulation and their role in CRC, integrating miRNA diagnostics into current screening methods holds promise for enhancing personalized medicine approaches. This review emphasizes the transformative potential of miRNAs in CRC diagnosis, paving the way for improved patient outcomes and novel therapeutic paradigms.

A Systematic Review of Diagnostic Performance of Circulating MicroRNAs in Colorectal Cancer Detection with a Focus on Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer

The rising incidence and mortality of early-onset colorectal cancer (EOCRC) emphasize the urgent need for effective non-invasive screening. Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as promising biomarkers for cancer detection. This systematic review aims to evaluate the diagnostic performance of circulating miRNAs in detecting colorectal cancer (CRC). A literature search was conducted in PubMed and Scopus. Studies that report sensitivity, specificity, or area under the curve (AUC) for CRC detection by miRNA were included. The miRNA miR-21 was the most frequently studied biomarker, with a varying range of AUC from 0.55 to 0.973 attributed to differences in study populations and methodologies. The miRNAs miR-210 and miR-1246 showed potential diagnostic capacity with miR-1246 achieving an AUC of 0.924, 100% sensitivity, and 80% specificity. The miRNA panels offer improved diagnostic performance compared to individual miRNA. The best performing panel for CRC patients below 50 is miR-211 + miR-25 + TGF-β1 with AUC 0.99 and 100 specificity and 97 sensitivity. Circulating miRNAs hold significant promise as non-invasive biomarkers for CRC screening. However, the variability in diagnostic performance highlights the need for a standardized method and robust validation studies. Future research should focus on large-scale, ethnically diverse cohorts to establish clinically relevant miRNA biomarkers for CRC, particularly in younger populations.

Advancing gastrointestinal cancer diagnostics: a systematic review and meta-analysis of circulating microRNA-1246 as a non-invasive biomarker

BACKGROUND

Despite numerous reports on the alterations of microRNA-1246 (miR-1246) expression level in digestive system cancers, its role in gastrointestinal cancers (GICs) remains unclear. This meta-analysis aimed to assess the diagnostic potential of circulating miR-1246 in GICs.

METHODS

Meta-disc version 1.4 and Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA) version 3.7 software were used to calculate pooled sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratios, diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), area under the curve (AUC), Q*index and summary receiver-operating characteristic (SROC). Subgroup analyses were conducted for cancer type, sample type and geographical region. Publication bias was assessed using Begg's and Egger's tests.

RESULTS

A total of 14 articles involving 18 studies and 1526 participants (972 cases and 554 controls) were included. The diagnostic accuracy of miRNA-1246 in GICs was as follows: pooled sensitivity: 0.81 (95% CI: 0.79 - 0.83), specificity: 0.74 (95% CI: 0.71 - 0.77), PLR: 3.315 (95% CI: 2.33 - 4.72), NLR: 0.221 (95% CI: 0.153 - 0.319), DOR: 16.87 (95% CI: 9.45 - 30.09), AUC: 0.891, and Q*-index: 0.807. No publication bias was found based on Begg's (p = 0.172) and Egger's (p = 0.113) tests.

CONCLUSION

Circulating miR-1246 shows promise as a non-invasive biomarker for early detection of GICs.

Identification of serum miR-1246 and miR-150-5p as novel diagnostic biomarkers for high-grade serous ovarian cancer

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is one of the leading cancers in women, with high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) being the most common and lethal subtype of this disease. A vast majority of HGSOC are diagnosed at the late stage of the disease when the treatment and total recovery chances are low. Thus, there is an urgent need for novel, more sensitive and specific methods for early and routine HGSOC clinical diagnosis. In this study, we performed miRNA expression profiling using the NanoString miRNA assay in 34 serum samples from patients with HGSOC and 36 healthy women. We identified 13 miRNAs that were differentially expressed (DE). For additional exploration of expression patterns correlated with HGSOC, we performed weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). As a result, we showed that the module most correlated with tumour size, nodule and metastasis contained 8 DE miRNAs. The panel including miR-1246 and miR-150-5p was identified as a signature that could discriminate HGSOC patients with AUCs of 0.98 and 1 for the training and test sets, respectively. Furthermore, the above two-miRNA panel had an AUC = 0.946 in the verification cohorts of RT-qPCR data and an AUC = 0.895 using external data from the GEO public database. Thus, the model we developed has the potential to markedly improve the diagnosis of ovarian cancer.

The Diagnostic Power of Circulating miR-1246 in Screening Cancer: An Updated Meta-analysis

Background

MicroRNA-1246 (miR-1246), an oncomiR that regulates the expression of multiple cancer-related genes, has been attracted and studied as a promising indicator of various tumors. However, diverse conclusions on diagnostic accuracy have been shown due to the small sample size and limited studies included. This meta-analysis is aimed at systematically assessing the performance of extracellular circulating miR-1246 in screening common cancers.

Methods

We searched the PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar databases for relevant studies until November 28, 2022. Then, the summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curves were drawn and calculated area under the curve (AUC), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), sensitivity, and specificity values of circulating miR-1246 in the cancer surveillance.

Results

After selection and quality assessment, 29 eligible studies with 5914 samples (3232 cases and 2682 controls) enrolled in the final analysis. The pooled AUC, DOR, sensitivity, and specificity of circulating miR-1246 in screening cancers were 0.885 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.827-0.892), 27.7 (95% CI: 17.1-45.0), 84.2% (95% CI: 79.4-88.1), and 85.3% (95% CI: 80.5-89.2), respectively. Among cancer types, superior performance was noted for breast cancer (AUC = 0.950, DOR = 98.5) compared to colorectal cancer (AUC = 0.905, DOR = 47.6), esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (AUC = 0.757, DOR = 8.0), hepatocellular carcinoma (AUC = 0.872, DOR = 18.6), pancreatic cancer (AUC = 0.767, DOR = 12.3), and others (AUC = 0.887, DOR = 27.5, P = 0.007). No significant publication bias in DOR was observed in the meta-analysis (funnel plot asymmetry test with P = 0.652; skewness value = 0.672, P = 0.071).

Conclusion

Extracellular circulating miR-1246 may serve as a reliable biomarker with good sensitivity and specificity in screening cancers, especially breast cancer.

Extracellular Vesicles from Uterine Aspirates Represent a Promising Source for Screening Markers of Gynecologic Cancers

Extracellular vesicles (EVs), including exosomes, are key factors of intercellular communication, performing both local and distant transfers of bioactive molecules. The increasingly obvious role of EVs in carcinogenesis, similarity of molecular signatures with parental cells, precise selection and high stability of cargo molecules make exosomes a promising source of liquid biopsy markers for cancer diagnosis. The uterine cavity fluid, unlike blood, urine and other body fluids commonly used to study EVs, is of local origin and therefore enriched in EVs secreted by cells of the female reproductive tract. Here, we show that EVs, including those corresponding to exosomes, could be isolated from individual samples of uterine aspirates (UA) obtained from epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) patients and healthy donors using the ultracentrifugation technique. First, the conducted profiling of small RNAs (small RNA-seq) from UA-derived EVs demonstrated the presence of non-coding RNA molecules belonging to various classes. The analysis of the miRNA content in EVs from UA performed on a pilot sample revealed significant differences in the expression levels of a number of miRNAs in EVs obtained from EOC patients compared to healthy individuals. The results open up prospects for using UA-derived EVs as a source of markers for the diagnostics of gynecological cancers, including EOC.

A Review on the Role of miR-1246 in the Pathoetiology of Different Cancers

miR-1246 is a microRNA firstly recognized through application of a high throughput sequencing technique in human embryonic stem cells. Subsequent studies have shown the role of this microRNA in the carcinogenesis. miR-1246 has been found to exert oncogenic roles in colorectal, breast, renal, oral, laryngeal, pancreatic and ovarian cancers as well as melanoma and glioma. In lung, cervical and liver cancers, studies have reported contradictory results regarding the role of miR-1246. miR-1246 has been reported to regulate activity of RAF/MEK/ERK, GSK3β, Wnt/β-catenin, JAK/STAT, PI3K/AKT, THBS2/MMP and NOTCH2 pathways. In addition to affecting cell cycle progression and proliferation, miR-1246 can influence stemness and resistance of cancer cells to therapeutics. In the current review, we describe the summary of in vitro and in vivo studies about the influence of miR-1246 in carcinogenesis in addition to studies that measured expression levels of miR-1246 in clinical samples.

Twenty years of African Health Sciences as infections continue to plague our continent

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