Early Detection of Lung Cancer in Serum by a Panel of MicroRNA Biomarkers

Abstract Introduction The objective of the study was to develop a panel of microRNAs (miRNAs) as highly sensitive and specific biomarkers for lung cancer early detection. Materials and Methods The study contained 2 phases: first, preliminary marker selection based on previous reports on the serum of 24 early stage lung cancer patients and 24 healthy control subjects by TaqMan probe–based real-time reverse transcription–quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR); and second, validation of miRNA markers on 94 early stage lung cancer, 48 stage III to IV lung cancer, and 111 healthy control serum samples. Results A total of 3 miRNAs (miR-125a-5p, miR-25, and miR-126) were selected for further analysis in this study. The combination of the 3 miRNAs could produce 0.936 area under the receiver operating characteristic curve value in distinguishing early stage lung cancer patients from control subjects with 87.5% sensitivity and 87.5% specificity, respectively. The diagnostic value of the miRNA panel in an independent set of lung cancer patients confirmed the sensitivity and specificity. Conclusion The results demonstrated that the panel of miRNA biomarkers had the potential for the early detection of lung cancer.