Circulating miRNAs as Biomarkers for Prostate Cancer Diagnosis in Subjects with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

Body fluids often contain freely circulating nucleic acids, many of which can be exploited as noninvasive tools for the diagnosis of cancer as well as for clinical prognostication. Identifying microRNAs (miRNAs) in subjects' blood with various malignancies means that they can serve as novel biomarkers for prostate cancer (PCa) diagnosis. This study analyzed serum-circulating miRNAs as a noninvasive biomarker in subjects with PCa and subjects with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). In total, 31 PCa subjects and 31 BPH subjects were included, with the BPH group serving as the control group. RT-qPCR was used to quantify the levels of 10 miRNAs, which included miR-18a, miR-34a, miR-106b, miR-183, miR-200a, miR-301a, miR-141, miR-182, miR-200b, and miR-375 in serum. Statistical tests were used to assess the relationship between the levels of miRNAs and the clinicopathological data. A significant increase was observed in the relative expression ratios of miR-141, miR-182, miR-200b, and miR-375 (1.89-, 2.09-, 2.41-, and 2.27-folds, respectively) in the PCa group when compared to the BPH group. Based on the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, the largest area under the curve (AUC), 0.923, was associated with the miR-200b group, indicating effective diagnostic properties for this biomarker. A correlation was observed between total prostate-specific antigen (TPSA) and the relative levels of miR-141, miR-182, miR-200b, and miR-375. The Gleason score and the miR-200b expression level were also correlated. These results are consistent with previous studies regarding the possibility of differentiating between PCa subjects and healthy controls based on the detection of miRNA. The findings attest to a distinctive expression profile of miRNA that is detectable in the blood of PCa subjects, thereby confirming the role of miRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers for PCa.