A study of circulating microRNAs identifies a new potential biomarker panel to distinguish aggressive prostate cancer
Abstract
Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers in men worldwide. Currently available diagnostic and prognostic tools for this disease, such as prostate specific antigen, suffer from lack of specificity and sensitivity, resulting in over- and misdiagnosis. Hence, there is an urgent need for clinically relevant biomarkers capable of distinguishing between aggressive and nonaggressive forms of prostate cancer to aid in stratification, management and therapeutic decisions. To address this unmet need, we investigated the patterns of expression of a panel of 68 plasma-derived microRNAs (miRNAs) in a cohort of African American (AA) and European American (EA) prostate cancer patients (n = 114). miRNA qPCR results were analyzed using in-depth statistical methods, and a bioinformatics analysis was conducted to identify potential targets of the differentially expressed miRNAs. Our data demonstrate that a new previously unreported circulating miRNA signature consisting of a combination of interacting miRNAs (miR-17/miR-192) and an independent miRNA (miR-181a) are capable of segregating aggressive and nonaggressive prostate cancer in both AA and EA patients. The interacting miRNAs outperformed independent miRNAs in identifying aggressive...Continue Reading
References
Human microRNA genes are frequently located at fragile sites and genomic regions involved in cancers
Citations
DNA Origami as Emerging Technology for the Engineering of Fluorescent and Plasmonic-Based Biosensors
Related Concepts
Related Feeds
Cancer Disparities
Cancer disparities refers to differences in cancer outcomes (e.g., number of cancer cases, related health complications) across population groups.