Role of a schistosoma haematobium specific microRNA as a predictive and prognostic tool for bilharzial bladder cancer in Egypt

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 10; no. 1; p. 18844
• Main Authors: Gaber, Dalia A., Wassef, Rita M., El-Ayat, Wael M., El-Moazen, Mohamed I., Montasser, Karim A., Swar, Sherif A., Amin, Hebat Allah A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 02.11.2020; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/337; 631/67; 692/4017; 692/4025; 692/53; Animals; Biomarkers; Biomarkers, Tumor - urine; Bladder cancer; Cancer; Cystitis; Diagnosis; Egypt; Gene expression; Hemagglutination; Hemagglutination Tests - methods; Humanities and Social Sciences; Indirect hemagglutination; Kinases; Malignancy; MAP kinase; MAP Kinase Kinase 3 - urine; MicroRNAs; MicroRNAs - urine; miRNA; multidisciplinary; Predictive Value of Tests; Prognosis; Protein kinase; Schistosoma haematobium - genetics; Schistosomiasis haematobia - complications; Schistosomiasis haematobia - diagnosis; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Urinary bladder; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms - diagnosis; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms - etiology; Egypt
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-74807-1

Urinary bladder cancer is a common malignancy in Egypt, thus reliable methodologies are required for screening and early detection. In this study, we analyzed the gene expression of a Schistosoma hematobium specific microRNA “ Sha-miR-71a ” and mitogen-associated protein kinase-3 (MAPK-3) in the urine samples of 50 bladder cancer patients and 50 patients with benign bilharzial cystitis. Fifty control subjects were also tested. Indirect hemagglutination test (IHA) diagnosed 70% of studied cancer cases as bilharzial associated bladder cancer (BBC), while histopathological examination detected only 18%. Urinary Sha-miR-71a & MAPK-3 revealed enhanced expression in BBC (p-value = 0.001) compared to non-bilharzial bladder cancer (NBBC) cases. Patients with chronic bilharzial cystitis exhibited a significant increase in gene expression compared to those with acute infection (p-value = 0.001). Sha-miR-71a and MAPK-3 showed good sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of BBC when analyzed by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. They were also prognostic regarding malignancy grade. Both biomarkers showed a positive correlation. Our results revealed that IHA is a reliable test in the diagnosis of bilharziasis associated with bladder cancer, and that Sha-miR-71a and MAPK-3 provide non-invasive specific biomarkers to diagnose BBC, as well as a potential role in testing bilharzial patients for risk to develop cancer.