A two-miRNA signature (miR-33a-5p and miR-128-3p) in whole blood as potential biomarker for early diagnosis of lung cancer

MicroRNAs (MiRNAs) have been found to be dysregulated in lung cancer tissues compared to their matched paracancerous tissues. However, the roles of miRNAs in peripheral blood as potential biomarkers for early diagnosis of lung cancer remain poorly understood. Here we found that miR-33a-5p and miR-128-3p were down-regulated in lung cancer tissues and cell lines. The expression levels of miR-33a-5p and miR-128-3p in lung cancer tissues were significantly correlated to TNM stages. MiR-128-3p in lung cancer tissues was also remarkably related to smoking and tumor size. The relative expression levels of miR-33a-5p and miR-128-3p were positively correlated in lung cancer tissues. Notably, miR-33a-5p and miR-128-3p in whole blood of lung cancer patients or early-stage lung cancer patients (TNM stage I-II) were lowly expressed as compared with that in healthy controls. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analyses revealed higher area under the ROC curve (AUC) values and higher sensitivity/specificity of miR-33a-5p and miR-128-3p alone and in combination were superior to that of traditional tumor markers (CYFR21-1, NSE and CA72-4). Importantly, both miR-33a-5p and miR-128-3p in whole blood were highly stable even under different harsh conditions. The results demonstrate that tumor suppressor miR-33a-5p/miR-128-3p in whole blood can serve as novel biomarkers for the early detection of lung cancer.