Serum miRNA profiles for gastric cancer diagnosis

Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) in serum may serve as promising diagnostic biomarkers for patients with gastric cancer (GC). Using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) based Exiqon panel, we identified 58 differentially expressed miRNAs from 3 GC pool samples and 1 normal control (NC) pool in the initial screening phase. Identified miRNAs were further validated in the training (49 GC VS. 47 NCs) and validation phases (154 GC VS. 120 NCs) using qRT-PCR. Consequently, six serum miRNAs (miR-10b-5p, miR-132-3p, miR-185-5p, miR-195-5p, miR-20a-3p and miR-296-5p) were significantly overexpressed in GC compared with NCs. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of the six-miRNA panel were 0.764 and 0.702 for the training and validation phases, respectively. In conclusion, we identified a six-miRNA panel in serum for the detection of GC. All blood samples were collected from First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University. The serum sample was stored at -80°C for further processing. In the initial screening phase, serum samples were collected from 30 GC patients and 10 NCs and pooled as 3 GC pool samples (GC pool 1, GC pool 2 and GC pool 3) and 1 NC pool sample (10 serum samples were pooled as 1 pool sample).