Plasma exosomal miR-1290 and miR-29c-3p as diagnostic biomarkers for lung cancer

Qian Zhang; Kaifu Zheng; Yongheng Gao; Shihong Zhao; Yabo Zhao; Wangping Li; Yandong Nan; Zhengping Li; Wei Liu; Xinxin Wang; Yanwei Chen; Gang Liu; Faguang Jin

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21059

Plasma exosomal miR-1290 and miR-29c-3p as diagnostic biomarkers for lung cancer

Heliyon. 2023 Oct 17;9(10):e21059. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21059. eCollection 2023 Oct.

Authors

Qian Zhang^{1

2}, Kaifu Zheng³, Yongheng Gao¹, Shihong Zhao¹, Yabo Zhao⁴, Wangping Li¹, Yandong Nan¹, Zhengping Li³, Wei Liu¹, Xinxin Wang¹, Yanwei Chen¹, Gang Liu¹, Faguang Jin¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Tangdu Hospital, Air Force Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710038, China.
² Department of Respiration, Eastern Air Force Hospital, NanJing 210000, China.
³ Department of General Surgery, the 991th Hospital of Joint Logistic Support Force of People's Liberation Army, Xiangyang 441000, China.
⁴ Department of Thoracic surgery, Tangdu Hospital, Air Force Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.

Abstract

Background: Enhancing the diagnostic efficacy of early-stage lung cancer is crucial for improving prognosis. The objective of this study was to ascertain dependable exosomal miRNAs as biomarkers for the diagnosis of lung cancer.

Methods: Exosomal miRNA candidates were identified through miRNA sequencing and subsequently validated in various case-control sets using real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The correlation between the expression of exosomal miRNAs and the clinicopathological features of lung cancer was investigated. To assess the diagnostic efficacy of exosomal miRNAs for lung cancer, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was conducted. The optimal cutoff value of exosomal miRNAs was determined in the testing cohort and subsequently confirmed in the validation cohort.

Results: The results showed that the expression of exosomal miR-1290 was significantly elevated, while that of miR-29c-3p was significantly decreased in the plasma of lung cancer patients, especially in those with early-stage lung cancer, compared to individuals with benign lung conditions (P < 0.01). Exosomal miR-1290 and miR-29c-3p demonstrated superior diagnostic efficacy compared to conventional tumor biomarkers in distinguishing between lung cancer and benign lung diseases, as evidenced by their respective area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.934 and 0.868. Furthermore, exosomal miR-1290 and miR-29c-3p exhibited higher diagnostic efficiency in early-stage lung cancer than traditional tumor markers, with AUC values of 0.947 and 0.895, respectively. Notably, both exosomal miR-1290 and miR-29c-3p displayed substantial discriminatory capacity in distinguishing between non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC), as indicated by their respective AUC values of 0.810 and 0.842.

Conclusions: The findings of this study provided evidence that exosomal miR-1290 and miR-29c-3p hold significant potential as biomarkers for the early detection of lung cancer, as well as for differentiating between NSCLC and SCLC.

Keywords: Diagnosis; Exosome; Lung Neoplasms; MiR-1290; MiR-29c-3p.