Identification of dysregulated serum miR-508-3p and miR-885-5p as potential diagnostic biomarkers of clear cell renal carcinoma

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), the most common subtype, accounts for approximately 80% of all RCC cases. ccRCC patients typically present with an advanced stage at the time of diagnosis resulting in a poor patient prognosis. The present study aimed to identify novel potential microRNAs (miRNAs or miRs) in peripheral blood as biomarkers for the detection of ccRCC. Candidate miRNAs were selected through integrated analysis of the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, and from clinical samples. The expression levels of miRNAs were quantified using reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to explore the diagnostic values of the miRNAs. Bioinformatic analysis of candidate miRNAs was conducted by using the STRING database. After an integrated analysis of the GEO and TCGA databases, four miRNAs were found to be consistently dysregulated in ccRCC tissues. Then, their expression levels in serum and diagnostic utilities were further explored. We discovered that serum miR-508-3p and miR-885-5p were significantly dysregulated in ccRCC patients with marked diagnostic values. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of serum miR-508-3p and miR-885-5p was 0.80 (95% CI, 0.73–0.87) and 0.87 (95% CI, 0.79–0.95), respectively. Functional enrichment analysis revealed that both miR-508-3p and miR-885-5p were closely associated with cellular metabolic processes. In conclusion, serum miR-508-3p and miR-885-5p are novel potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of ccRCC.