Mortality rates of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) have improved over the past 20 years; however, a significant portion of deaths stems from the lack of prognostic biomarkers, which can direct therapy and overcome drug resistance. microRNA‐155a (miRNA‐155a) and miRNA‐181a are two single‐stranded miRNAs involved in the pathogenesis of many types of leukemia and lymphoma and is linked to drug resistance. We investigated their expression levels in 55 patients, 45 diagnosed with ALL and 10 as a control group. We found that miRNA‐155a and miRNA‐181a were significantly upregulated in the ALL group with both being linked to high levels of minimal residual disease and poor prognosis. miRNA‐155a cutoff value was significant in discriminating between high‐ and low‐risk ALL patients as well as between ALL patients and healthy controls, miRNA‐181a cutoff value, however, was not significant. Both markers levels were significantly downregulated after therapy. We conclude that miR‐155 is correlated with poor prognosis in ALL, whereas we couldn’t link miRNA‐181a to the prognosis in ALL. Moreover, the marked decrease in their expression after therapy could reflect their impact on disease outcome.

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Aberrant expression of miRNAs has a link with tumorgenesis and their deregulation is reported in biological fluids of cancer patients. Authors aimed to investigate the diagnostic role of miRNA-17-5p, miR-155 and miRNA-222 in serum samples from breast cancer patients (n = 80), benign breast patients (n = 40) and healthy individuals (n = 30) using quantitative real-time PCR technique. Median levels of investigated markers revealed significant increase in primary breast cancer followed by benign and control groups. Investigated miRNAs reported significant relation with clinical stages and histological grading, while only miRNA-17-5p showed significant relation with hormone receptors. When considering investigated miRNAs as compared to tumor marker, their sensitivities were superior over tumor markers for early diagnosis of breast cancer, detection of early stages and low grades breast cancer patients. In conclusion, detection of the miRNA-17-5p, miR-155 and miRNA-222 expression levels in serum samples is significant promising molecular markers for early breast cancer diagnosis.

Colorectal cancer is a multifactorial disease that involves both environmental and genetic factors. The gene encoding adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) has been reported to be associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) risk in several ethnic populations. The aim of this work is to assess the association of the APC I1307K and E1317Q polymorphisms with CRC risk among Egyptian subjects. This study included 120 unrelated CRC Egyptian patients who were compared to 100 healthy controls from the same locality. For all subjects, DNA was genotyped for APC I1307K and E1317Q polymorphisms using the PCR-ARMS technique. The frequency of APC I1307K carrier (TA+AA genotypes) was noted to be significantly higher among cases with CRC compared to controls (18.3 vs. 9.0 %, OR 2.58, 95 % CI 1.09-6.09, p = 0.03). Also the frequency of the APC I1307K A allele was significantly higher among cases compared to controls (10.4 vs. 4.5 %, OR 2.47; 95 % CI 1.12-5.42, p = 0.03). On the contrast, the frequencies of APC E1317Q GC genotype and C allele showed no significant difference among CRC patients compared to controls (3.3 vs. 2.0 %, OR 1.69; 95 % CI 0.30-9.42, p = 0.69 and 2.1 vs. 1.0 %, OR 2.11; 95 % CI 0.40-10.97, p = 0.46, respectively). Cases of the APC I1307K and E1317Q carriers (TA+AA and GC) showed no significant difference compared to those with I1307K and E1317Q non-carriers (TT and GG) regarding their clinical and laboratory markers. APC I1307K variant was associated with an increased risk of CRC among Egyptian subjects.

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