SERUM MICRORNA-26, MICRORNA-122 AND MICRORNA-192 EXPRESSIONS IN HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA

Introduction: There is not yet an ideal biomarker to detect hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in early stage. MicroRNA (miRNA) dysregulation in HCC results in inhibition of cellular apoptosis, increased angiogenesis, invasion and development of metastasis. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of serum miRNA-26, miRNA-122 and miRNA-192 levels in diagnosis of HCC com- pared to other prognostic criteria.

Materials and methods: The study included newly diagnosed HCC patients (n=42) and patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) as controls (n=45). We measured serum miRNA-26, miRNA-122 and miRNA-192 levels for each patient.

Results: Serum levels of miRNA-26 were significantly lower in HCC patients (29.03) than those in control group (30.34) (p<0.001). There was no significant difference in serum levels of miRNA-122 between the two groups (p=0.181). MiRNA-192 was not expressed as assessed by the real-time PCR method. For diagnosis of HCC, cut-off value was set at 29.38 for miR-26. With this cut-off value, sensitivity was 71.4%, and specificity was 82.2%, while positive and negative predictive values were 78.9% and 75.5%, respecti- vely (p<0.0001). We also compared the miRNA-26 and miRNA-122 levels of patients with other diagnostic, clinical and prognostic data, which are significant for HCC. No statistically significant correlation was found between alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and miRNA- 122 and miRNA-26 gene expressions.

Conclusions: Serum levels of miRNA-26 may contribute to early diagnosis of HCC when used together with other diagnostic, clinical and prognostic markers.