Serum miR-125a-5p, miR-145 and miR-146a as diagnostic biomarkers in non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: Lung cancer is becoming the leading cause of cancer-related deaths with high mortality worldwide and in China as well. Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer accounting for approximately 85% of all cases. Over 70% of cases are at loco-regionally advanced stages or have distant metastasis at the time of presentation with subsequently poor prognosis. MiRNAs are stable molecules in blood and used as biomarkers for the early diagnosis of various malignancy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether circulating miR-125a-5p, miR-145 and miR-146a could be used as biomarkers for the diagnosis of NSCLC through measuring their expression and assess their relationship with clinical pathological factors. Methods: Expression levels of serum miR-125a-5p, miR-145 and miR-146a were detected in 70 pairs of NSCLC patients and healthy controls using quantitative real-time PCR analysis. Results: Serum miR-125a-5p, miR-145 and miR-146a were overexpressed in NSCLC patients compared with healthy controls. Their values of the area under the receiver –operating characteristic curve (AUC-ROC) were 0.71, 0.84 and 0.78. Optimal sensitivity and specificity were 73.53% and 55.71%, 92.75% and 61.43%, 84.06% and 58.57%, respectively in differentiating NSCLC patients from healthy controls. Conclusions: These preliminary data suggest that serum miR-125a-5p, miR-145 and miR-146a may be useful noninvasive biomarkers for the clinical diagnosis of NSCLC.