Serum mir-30e and mir-223 as novel noninvasive biomarkers for hepatocellular carcinoma

Background
Liver cancer is the sixth most common cancer that accounts for 7% of all cancers. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common cancer worldwide with ∼600,000 new cases per year, and it is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths alone.
Aim
The aim of this work was to study the clinical utility of miR-30e and miR-223 as early novel biomarkers for HCC in chronic viral hepatitis patients.
Patients and methods
In this study, we tested two serum microRNAs (miRNAs), 223 and 30e, that can be used as potential biomarkers to diagnose HCC. A total of 55 patients were divided into three groups. Group I included 20 newly diagnosed patients with HCC on top of chronic hepatitis C virus infection. The HCC group included 11 male patients and nine female patients with ages ranging from 55 to 65 years. Liver masses discovered on surveillance by abdominal ultrasound were further investigated by triphasic abdominal computed tomographic scan. Group II included 20 patients of chronic hepatitis C virus with no HCC (10 male patients and 10 female patients), with ages ranging from 53 to 63 years. Group III included 15 apparently healthy participants as a control group (five male individuals and 10 female individuals), with ages ranging from 55 to 61 years and who were selected from relatives and friends. The samples were analyzed by quantitative real time PCR to detect both miRNAs.
Result
Our study revealed that both miRNAs, 30e and 223, were expressed at significantly lower levels in the sera of patients with HCC compared with healthy participants.
Conclusion
Expression levels of miR-30e and miR-223 were reduced in HCC sera; they have potential as noninvasive biomarkers for diagnosis of HCC, with high specificity and sensitivity for miR-30e, although with moderate sensitivity and high specificity for miR-223.