Applying Serum Proteins and MicroRNA as Novel Biomarkers for Early-Stage Cervical Cancer Detection

Sci Rep. 2020 Jun 3;10(1):9033. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-65850-z.

Abstract

Recently, we have been seeing emerging applications of non-invasive approaches using serum biomarkers including miRNA and proteins in detection of multiple cancers. Currently, majority of these methods only use solitary type of biomarkers, which often lead to non-satisfactory sensitivity and specificity in clinical applications. To this end, we established a unique biomarker panel in this study, which determined both squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC Ag) degree and miRNA-29a, miRNA-25, miRNA-486-5p levels in blood for detection of early-stage cervical cancer. We designed our study with two phases: a biomarker discovery phase, followed by an independent validation phase. In total of 140 early-stage cervical cancer patients (i.e., AJCC stage I and II) and 140 healthy controls recruited in the biomarker discovery phase, we achieved sensitivity of 88.6% and specificity of 92.9%. To further assess the predictive power of our panel, we used it to an independent patient cohort that consisted of 60 early-stage cervical cancer individuals as well as 60 healthy controls, and successfully achieved both high sensitivity (80.0%) and high specificity (96.7%). Our study indicated combining analyses of multiple serum biomarkers could improve the accuracy of non-invasive detection of early-stage cervical cancer, and potentially serve as a new liquid biopsy approach for detecting early-stage cervical cancer.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Antigens, Neoplasm / analysis
  • Antigens, Neoplasm / blood
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / genetics
  • Blood Proteins / genetics
  • Early Detection of Cancer / methods
  • Female
  • Gene Expression Profiling / methods
  • Genetic Testing / methods
  • Humans
  • Liquid Biopsy / methods
  • MicroRNAs / genetics
  • ROC Curve
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Serpins / analysis
  • Serpins / blood
  • Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / blood
  • Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / genetics*

Substances

  • Antigens, Neoplasm
  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • Blood Proteins
  • MIRN25 microRNA, human
  • MIRN29a microRNA, human
  • MIRN486 microRNA, human
  • MicroRNAs
  • Serpins
  • squamous cell carcinoma-related antigen