Circulating microRNAs as a potential diagnostic marker in chronic pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer and colorectal cancer

Abstract

Introduction. We evaluated the expression of selected circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) in chronic pancreatitis (CP), pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), and colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and healthy volunteers to test for differences in their levels and potential use as biomarkers. Material and methods. A study of plasma miRNAs expression was performed in 88 patients: 40 (45%) CP patients, 20 (23%) PDAC patients, and 28 (32%) CRC patients. Expression of miRNA-17-5p, miRNA-93-5p, miRNA-320a-5p, miRNA-519d-3p, miRNA-526b-3p, and miRNA-5590-3p was assessed by the qRT-PCR method. Results. Higher expression of miRNA-93-5p was observed in patients with PDAC (p = 0.02) and CRC (p = 0.005) compared to healthy individuals. Lower expression of miRNA-519d-3p was found in PC (p = 0.01) and PDAC (p = 0.02) compared to healthy volunteers. Higher expression of miRNA-93-5p was observed in patients with CP who had a higher concentration of CA-19-9 compared to patients with a low level or unknown status of this marker (p = 0.03). Examination of miRNA-519-3p expression distinguished patients with CP from healthy volunteers with sensitivity and specificity of 60% and 80%, respectively. Testing miRNA-93-5p and miRNA-519 expression distinguished PDAC patients and healthy participants with sensitivity and specificity of 60% and 77% (for miRNA-93-5p examination), as well as 59% and 79% (for miRNA-519-3p examination). Examination of miRNA-17 and miRNA-93-5p distinguished CRC patients and healthy donors. Sensitivity and specificity of this test were 78% and 50% for miRNA-17 examination, as well as 78% and 80% for miRNA-93-5p examination. Conclusions. Our data indicate that miRNA-93, miRNA-17, and miRNA-519 demonstrate potential as biomarker molecules in the diagnosis of CP, PDAC, and CRC.