Circulating microRNA-301 as a promising diagnostic biomarker of hepatitis C virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma

• Published in: Molecular biology reports Vol. 46; no. 6; pp. 5759 - 5765
• Main Authors: El-Hamouly, Moamena S., Azzam, Ayman A., Ghanem, Samar E., EL-Bassal, Fathia I., Shebl, Nashwa, Shehata, Amira M. F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.12.2019; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: alpha-Fetoproteins - analysis; Animal Anatomy; Animal Biochemistry; Biomarkers; Biomarkers, Tumor - blood; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - blood; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - diagnosis; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - virology; Chronic infection; Cirrhosis; Female; Hepatitis; Hepatitis C; Hepatitis C, Chronic - complications; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Histology; Humans; Life Sciences; Liver cancer; Liver cirrhosis; Liver Neoplasms - blood; Liver Neoplasms - diagnosis; Liver Neoplasms - virology; Male; MicroRNAs; MicroRNAs - blood; Middle Aged; miRNA; Morphology; Original Article; Polymerase chain reaction; Predictive Value of Tests; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; Reverse transcription; ROC Curve; Serum levels; α-Fetoprotein; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Alpha-fetoproteins; Hepatitis C; Circulating microRNA-301; Real-time polymerase chain reaction
• ISSN: 0301-4851; 1573-4978
• DOI: 10.1007/s11033-019-05009-w

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a serious consequence of persistent hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and represents one of the most aggressive neoplasms globally. The implication of microRNA-301 (miR-301) in the initiation and progression of different types of cancers has been proved. We aimed to assess circulating microRNA-301 as possible biomarker for the early detection of HCC in patients with chronic HCV infection. miR-301 expression levels were estimated in plasma samples of 42 patients with newly diagnosed HCV-related HCC, 48 chronically HCV infected patients with liver cirrhosis and 40 healthy individuals by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction technique. In comparison with chronically HCV infected patients and healthy controls, miR-301 expression levels were significantly increased in HCC patients (P < 0.001). miR-301 levels distinguished HCC patients from chronic HCV patients, with area under the receiver–operating characteristic curve of 0.89 (95% CI 0.82–0.96), the sensitivity and the specificity were 78.57% and 89.58% respectively. Moreover, miR-301 levels were significantly linked with tumor size (P = 0.014), serum levels of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) (P = 0.028) and Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) score (P = 0.003). These results reveal that miR-301 can serve as a promising non-invasive biomarker for diagnosis of HCC in chronically HCV infected patients.