Diagnostic value of oncofetal miRNAs in cancers: A comprehensive analysis of circulating miRNAs in pan-cancers and UCB

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Zhou, Xin^{a; 1} | Liu, Cheng^{b; 1} | Yin, Yin^{c; 1} | Zhang, Cheng^d | Zou, Xuan^e | Xia, Tiansong^f | Geng, Xiangnan^g | Liu, Ping^{a; *} | Cheng, Wenfang^{b; *} | Zhu, Wei^{a; *}

Affiliations: [a] Department of Oncology, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China | [b] Department of Gastroenterology, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China | [c] Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China | [d] Women&Children Central Laboratory, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China | [e] First Clinical College of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China | [f] Jiangsu Breast Disease Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China | [g] Department of Clinical Engineering, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding authors: Wei Zhu and Ping Liu, Department of Oncology, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210029, China. Tel.: +86 139 1389 4911, +86 138 5178 7700; Fax: +86 25 68136099; E-mail: [email protected] and [email protected]; Wenfang Cheng, Department of Gastroenterology, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210029, China. E-mail: [email protected].

Note: [1] Contributed equally.

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Circulating miRNAs are promising biomarkers for detection of various cancers. As a “developmental” disorder, cancer showed great similarities with embryos. OBJECTIVE: A comprehensive analysis of circulating miRNAs in umbilical cord blood (UCB) and pan-cancers was conducted to identify circulating miRNAs with potential for cancer detection. METHODS: A total of 3831 cancer samples (2050 serum samples from 15 types of cancers and 1781 plasma samples from 13 types of cancers) and 248 UCB samples (120 serum and 128 plasma samples) with corresponding NCs from Chinese populations were analyzed via consistent experiment workflow with Exiqon panel followed by multiple-stage validation with qRT-PCR. RESULTS: Thirty-four serum and 32 plasma miRNAs were dysregulated in at least one type of cancer. Eighteen serum and 16 plasma miRNAs were related with embryos. Among them, 9 serum and 8 plasma miRNAs with consistent expression patterns between pan-cancers and UCB were identified as circulating oncofetal miRNAs. Retrospective analysis confirmed the diagnostic ability of circulating oncofetal miRNAs for specific cancers. And the oncofetal miRNAs were mainly up-regulated in tissues of pan-cancers. CONCLUSIONS: Our study might serve as bases for the potential application of the non-invasive biomarkers in the future clinical.

Keywords: Circulating miRNAs, UCB, pan-cancers, oncofetal, biomarkers

DOI: 10.3233/CBM-203085

Journal: Cancer Biomarkers, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 19-36, 2021