Circular RNAs 0064286 and 0000475: Potential Diagnostic Biomarkers in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

OBJECTIVE: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is considered the highest recorded malignancy in Egypt. The shortage of appropriate biomarkers for early detection often results in the late diagnosis of the HCC. Circular RNAs (CircRNAs) are presented as long stranded non-coding RNA that combine covalently to make a sealed circular form which make them very stable. CircRNAs are known to have interpretative role in cancer development and metastasis. AIM: To examine the dysregulation of two new CircRNAs obtained from Circbase database (hsa_circ_0064286 and hsa_circ_0000475) in the serum of HCC patients as predictable diagnostic biomarkers of HCC and their correlation with some liver biochemical parameters. METHODS: Sixty clinically diagnosed HCC Egyptian patients and 25 healthy volunteers were enrolled in the study. Expression levels of the selected CircRNAs was evaluated in subjects’ serum. Moreover, correlation with liver biochemical parameters, sensitivity, and specificity of studied CircRNAs were estimated. RESULTS: Both circular RNAs were significantly down regulated in HCC patients, which was negatively correlated with ALP, ALT, AST, AFP, and bilirubin levels. Circ_0064286 showed more sensitivity and specificity (88.3% and 96%, respectively). CONCLUSION: As far as we know, this is the first study that shed light on the expression levels of both circRNAs in Egyptian HCC patients. They may serve as potential biomarkers for HCC diagnosis. Moreover, those circRNAs draw attention as therapeutic targets for HCC through targeting their sponge miRNAs.