Circulating miRNA-373 and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor as Potential Biomarkers for Early Detection of Breast Cancer

AbstractBreast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality among women worldwide. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), short non-coding RNAs, have been implicated in cancer-related processes such as tumor development, metastasis, angiogenesis, and drug resistance. Circulating miRNA-373 demonstrates higher relative exosomal serum levels in breast cancer patients compared to healthy women, making it a potential non-invasive biomarker. Separately, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is crucial for angiogenesis, and is elevated in breast cancer. In this case –control study, we aimed to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of miRNA-373 and VEGF as biomarkers for early-stage breast cancer detection. Serum samples were collected from 120 participants, comprising 30 breast cancer patients, 30 benign breast tumor patients, and 60 healthy controls, over the period of April 2022 to January 2023. MiRNA-373 expression was analyzed by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR with GAPDH normalisation, while VEGF levels in serum samples were measured by ELISA. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to evaluate the diagnostic perf ormance of both biomarkers. MiRNA-373 expression (∆Ct) differed significantly between the three groups (breast cancer: − 12.20 ± 1.11; benign tumors: − 12.79 ± 1.09; controls: − 13.64 ± 0.93). ROC analysis revealed moderate discriminative power for miRNA-373 (specificity  = 76.7%; sensitivity = 70.0...
Source: Indian Journal of Clinical Biochemistry - Category: Biochemistry Source Type: research