Serum microRNA-592 serves as a novel potential biomarker for early diagnosis of colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer-associated mortality worldwide. Currently, available diagnostic biomarkers are neither sensitive nor specific. Thus, the present study aimed to identify novel circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) as biomarkers for the early diagnosis of CRC. All samples were provided by The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University (Nanjing, China). Analysis of the GSE108153 and GSE55139 datasets, downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database was performed using the online tool, GEO2R. Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR was performed to determine miR-592 expression in CRC tissues, cells and serums of patients. Subsequently, the diagnostic value of serum miR-592 was assessed via receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Both the assessment of clinical samples and bioinformatics analysis demonstrated that miR-592 expression levels were significantly upregulated in the tissues and serum of patients with CRC, suggesting that elevated serum miR-592 may be tumor-derived. ROC analysis indicated that serum miR-592 levels may differentiate patients with early stage CRC and advanced adenoma from healthy individuals, with area under the curve values of 0.801 and 0.747, respectively. Taken together, the results of the present study suggest that serum miR-592 may be implicated as a potential biomarker for the early diagnosis of CRC.