Combination of serum microRNAs and ultrasound profile as predictive biomarkers of diagnosis and prognosis for papillary thyroid microcarcinoma.

Combination of serum microRNAs and ultrasound profile as predictive biomarkers of diagnosis and prognosis for papillary thyroid microcarcinoma. Oncol Rep. 2018 Oct 09;: Authors: Zhang Y, Pan J, Xu D, Yang Z, Sun J, Sun L, Wu Y, Qiao H Abstract Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) are promising diagnostic markers in various types of cancers, including papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). However, there is sparse information reported with regards to miRNA expression in papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) or concerning the role of a combination of miRNAs and ultrasound (US) in the diagnosis of PTMC before surgery. Therefore, we designed a study that aimed to evaluate miRNA expression levels and their potential associations with US findings and determine whether miRNAs could be used as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of PTMC. miR‑222, miR‑221, miR‑146b and miR‑21 levels were determined using reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT‑qPCR) in serum from 58 patients with PTMC and 47 with PTC, 35 patients with benign thyroid nodules (BTN) and 40 control subjects. Expression levels of the four miRNAs in serum were evaluated before and after surgery. The results indicated that miR‑222, miR‑221, miR‑146b and miR‑21 expression levels were higher in the PTMC samples than in those from the BTN and control groups and the combination of miRNAs and US had a high sensitivity and specificity for discriminat...
Source: Oncology Reports - Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: Oncol Rep Source Type: research