Abstract 161: Plasma-based biomarkers for breast cancer diagnosis

Abstract

Abstract Introduction It has been demonstrated that there are abundant, stable microRNAs (miRNAs) in plasma/serum, which can be detected and is potentially disease-specific. In this study, we aimed to assess whether serum/plasma miRNAs may be used as potential biomarkers for breast cancer diagnosis. Methods We used systematically Solexa sequencing as well as TaqMan Low Density Array followed by individual quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assays to screen plasma miRNAs in 48 breast cancer patients and 48 age-matched controls of Chinese origin for the discovery stage and validated in an internal validation set (50 patients and 50 controls in Chinese) and in an external validation set (24 patients and 24 controls in Caucasians). Results Four miRNAs (miR-16, miR-25, miR-222 and miR-324-3p) were differentially expressed between breast cancer cases and controls and subsequently validated in the internal and external validation stage samples. Taken together, Chinese patients with high plasma miRNA expression levels had a significantly increased risk of breast cancer for all the four miRNAs. The Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve was 0.917 for the four-miRNA signature in the discovery stage (sensitivity=0.917 and specificity=0.917), 0.930 in the internal validation stage (sensitivity=0.920 and specificity=0.940). Conclusions The four-miRNA signature from plasma may serve as a noninvasive diagnostic biomarker for breast cancer. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 161. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-161