Cell-Free RNA Signature for Noninvasive Diagnosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Using MOF to Enrich Circulating Nucleic Acids

We developed a new method to extract cfNA (containing cfDNA, cfRNA and viral RNA) from serum/plasma based on the adsorption of nucleic acids by MOF materials (Co-IRMOF-74-IV), and compared the extraction capability with commercial kit method. We conducted a comprehensive characterization of the cell-free RNA in a small number of clinical samples, including patients with HCC (n=14), CHB (n=17) and normal individuals (n=8). And then we build a model with 6 cfRNA signature to diagnose liver cancer, and indicated high diagnostic efficiency (AUC=0.905) in the independent validation cohort (HCC n=7, CHB n=4 and normal individuals n=8) Overall design: We sequenced cfRNA extracted from 0.5 ml of plasma obtained from 39 training set plasma samples (14 HCC, 17 CHB and 8 normal individuals), and we build a model with 6 cfRNA signature to diagnose HCC, which was verified high diagnostic efficiency (AUC=0.905) in the independent validation cohort (HCC n=7, CHB n=4 and normal individuals n=8).