A novel urinary microRNA biomarker panel for detecting gastric cancer

Abstract

Background: Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common causes of cancer deaths worldwide; however, reliable and non-invasive screening methods for GC are not established. Therefore, we conducted this study to develop a biomarker for GC detection, consisting of urinary microRNAs (miRNAs).

Methods: We matched 306 participants by age and sex [153 pairs consisting of patients with GC and healthy controls (HCs)], then randomly divided them across three groups: (1) the discovery cohort (4 pairs); (2) the training cohort (95 pairs); and (3) the validation cohort (54 pairs).

Results: There were 22 urinary miRNAs with significantly aberrant expressions between the two groups in the discovery cohort. Upon multivariate analysis of the training cohort, urinary expression levels of miR-6807-5p and miR-6856-5p were significantly independent biomarkers for diagnosis of GC, in addition to Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) status. A diagnostic panel that combined these 2 miRNAs and H. pylori status distinguished between HC and GC samples with an area under the curve (AUC) = 0.736. In the validation cohort, urinary miR-6807-5p and miR-6856-5p showed significantly higher expression levels in the GC group, and the combination biomarker panel of miR-6807-5p, miR-6856-5p, and H. pylori status also showed excellent performance (AUC = 0.885). In addition, this biomarker panel could distinguish between HC and stage I GC patients with an AUC = 0.748. Urinary expression levels of miR-6807-5p and miR-6856-5p significantly decreased to undetectable level after curative resection of GC.

Conclusions: This novel biomarker panel enables early and non-invasive detection of GC.

Keywords: Biomarker; Gastric cancer; Urinary miRNA; miR-6807-5p; miR-6856-5p.