Expression levels of circulating miRNAs as biomarkers during multimodal treatment of rectal cancer - TiMiSNAR-mirna: a substudy of the TiMiSNAR Trial (NCT03962088)

Abstract

Background: Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery is the mainstay treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer, leading to significant decrease in tumor size (downsizing) and a shift towards earlier disease stage (downstaging). Extensive histopathological work-up of the tumor specimen after surgery including tumor regression grading and lymph node status helped to visualize individual tumor sensitivity to chemoradiotherapy, retrospectively. As the response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy is heterogeneous, however, valid biomarkers are needed to monitor tumor response. A relevant number of studies aimed to identify molecular markers retrieved from tumor tissue while the relevance of blood-based biomarkers is less stringent assessed. MicroRNAs are currently under investigation to serve as blood-based biomarkers. To date, no screening approach to identify relevant miRNAs as biomarkers in blood of patients with rectal cancer was undertaken. The aim of the study is to investigate the role of circulating miRNAs as biomarkers in those patients included in the TiMiSNAR Trial (NCT 03465982). This is a biomolecular substudy of TiMiSNAR Trial (NCT03962088). Methods: All included patients in the TiMiSNAR Trial are supposed to undergo blood collection at the time of diagnosis, after neoadjuvant treatment, after 1 month from surgery, and after adjuvant chemotherapy whenever indicated.

Non‐coding RNAs in diseases with a focus on osteoarthritis

“…ncRNAs may represent suitable surrogate biomarkers. To date, some molecular diagnostic and predictive panels of ncRNAs are available, for example, OsteomiR (TAmiRNA) for osteoporosis, ThrombomiR (TAmiRNA) for cardiovascular diseases, ThyraMIR and ThyGENX (Interpace Diagnostics/Asurgene) for thyroid and pancreatic cancer, miRview Mets (Roseta genomics/Precision Therapeutics) to identify the origin of cancer, Reveal (Genoptix) for Thyroid cancer, and even more in clinical trials (Monsellato et al, 2020; Weigl et al, 2021). The primary research is focused on miRNAs; however, other epigenetic factors are also promising (Bonneau et al, 2019).…”

Combination of Changes in CEA and CA199 Concentration After Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy Could Predict the Prognosis of Stage II/III Rectal Cancer Patients Receiving Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy Followed by Total Mesorectal Excision

“…And they are usually elevated in patients with cancers. 9 During chemotherapy, CEA and CA19-9 usually change dynamically. 10 Previous studies have shown CEA and CA19-9 have good diagnostic and prognostic value in gastric, breast and colorectal cancers.…”

“…10 Previous studies have shown CEA and CA19-9 have good diagnostic and prognostic value in gastric, breast and colorectal cancers. [9][10][11] However, these studies were either limited to CEA and CA19-9 changes after chemotherapy instead of after NCRT or focused on stage IV RC instead of stage II/III. 12,13 Moreover, previous research only evaluated the prognostic value of single tumor biomarker changes, instead of combining them.…”