Circulating miR-31-5p may be a potential diagnostic biomarker in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Abstract

Aberrant expression of miR-31-5p has been detected in various cancers and plays a significant role in tumorigenesis. Low miR-31-5p expression was present in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) tissues and cell lines and acted as a tumor suppressive miRNA. Currently, circulating miRNAs are emerging as novel biomarkers for the early diagnosis of cancers using a non-invasive method. However, circulating miR-31-5p has rarely been reported in NPC. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore peripheral blood miR-31-5p levels as a noninvasive biomarker and evaluate its clinical value for the early diagnosis of patients with NPC. A total of 110 participants were recruited, including 55 NPC patients and 55 healthy controls. Peripheral blood samples were collected from these participants, and total RNA was extracted to quantify the relative expression of miR-31-5p by RT-qPCR. We found a significantly lower expression of miR-31-5p in the NPC patients than in the healthy controls. Furthermore, low expression of miR-31-5p was highly correlated with tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage (I+II vs III+IV, p=0.001), T classification (T1 vs T2+T3+T4, p=0.036) and local lymph node metastasis (N1-N3 vs N0, p=0.002), but not distant metastasis (p=0.288). Moreover, miR-31-5p showed a moderate diagnostic performance (AUC=0.866, sensitivity = 0.782, specificity = 0.818). Thus, we concluded that circulating miR-31-5p can be a potentially novel and non-invasive biomarker for the early diagnosis of NPC and an attractive therapeutic target in NPC patients.

Comprehensive analysis of key genes associated with ceRNA networks in nasopharyngeal carcinoma based on bioinformatics analysis

“…However, despite the great advances in medical technology in recent years, such as the application of intensity-modulated radiotherapy and optimized chemotherapy strategies, the detection and treatment of NPC remain challenging [ 9 ]. Epidemiological investigations have shown that although the incidence and mortality rates of NPC have been greatly reduced over the past decade even in endemic areas [ 10 ], the survival rate of NPC patients remains unsatisfactory due to local recurrence and distant metastasis, especially in patients with advanced-stage disease [ 11 ]. Thus, non-invasive, cancer-specific biomarkers for early diagnosis and precision treatment are urgently required.…”

Extracellular miRNAs as Biomarkers of Head and Neck Cancer Progression and Metastasis

“…The same researchers reported previously that miR-31 was significantly upregulated in OSCC tissues and that it mediated oral oncogenesis by hypoxia pathway regulation [60]. Meanwhile, Yi et al more recently reported that miR-31 level was lower in the whole blood of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) than in healthy controls and that its reduced expression was associated with local lymph node metastases [37]. In the same study, lower miR-31 expression was associated also with more advanced disease stage and TNM classification.…”

MicroRNAs as Therapeutic Targets in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

“…Recent studies showed that miR-31-5p was downregulated in present in NPC tissues and cell lines, acting as a tumor suppressive miRNA. And circulating miR-31-5p was identified to be a potential novel and non-invasive biomarker for the early diagnosis of NPC (77). The expression levels of tumor-educated platelet miR-34c-3p and miR-18a-5p are upregulated in NPC, which are promising novel liquid biopsy biomarkers for NPC diagnosis (78).…”