Circulating serum miRNAs as potential diagnostic biomarkers for oesophageal adenocarcinoma. Homo sapiens

Exosomes were purified from 250 ul serum using ExoQuickTm. The presence of particles consistent in size with exosomes (60-150nm) was confirmed using a Nanosight LM10. miRNA was extracted from exosomes using an miRNeasy Serum/Plasma kit (Qiagen, #217184). miRNA was reversed transcribed using a TaqMan® microRNA Reverse Transcription Kit (Life technologies, #4366596). miRNA profiling was performed with a high throughput TaqMan® OpenArray® Human microRNA panel (Life technologies, #4461104). The panel consisted of probes for 754 human miRNAs that are based on miRNA sequences derived from Sanger miRBase v14. MegaplexTM Primer Human Pool A v2.1 and Human Pool B v2.0 or v3.0 The poor prognosis and rising incidence of oesophageal adenocarcinoma highlight the need for improved methods for detection of this cancer. Molecular biomarkers offer potential for this. The potential for circulating miRNAs as biomarkers in some other cancers has been shown, but circulating miRNAs have not been well characterized in oesophageal adenocarcinoma. This study investigated whether circulating miRNAs could be used to detect oesophageal adenocarcinoma. Overall design: OpenArray high throughput real time PCR of microRNAs -- 19 patients without oesophageal disease, 10 patients with non-dysplastic Barrett's Oesophagus, 18 patients with locally advanced Oesophageal Adenocarcinoma