Aim: Desmoplastic small round cell tumor (DSRCT) is a rare, aggressive mesenchymal tumor, lacking biomarkers for diagnosis, treatment stratification and prognosis. We investigated the exosomal miRNA profile in plasma samples collected from DSRCT patients, evaluating their potential as circulating biomarkers for this tumor.
Patients & methods: We isolated exosomes from plasma of three DSRCT adolescents and four age-matched healthy controls; expression of circulating miRNAs was quantified by qPCR.
Results: We identified 55 miRNAs significantly modulated compared with healthy controls. Among these miRNAs, 14 were highly dysregulated in at least one patient and 5 were expressed in all patients.
Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first report describing exosomal miRNAs as promising biomarkers to characterize disease status in DSRCT patients.
Keywords: biomarkers; desmoplastic small round cell tumor; exosomes; miRNAs.