Serum microRNA expression profiling identifies serum biomarkers for HCV-related hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND: The identification of high-sensitivity biomarkers for detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) from high-risk individuals is essential. OBJECTIVE: The present study was undertaken to identify and validate serum microRNAs (miRNAs) as potential biomarkers for hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related HCC. METHODS: Illumina sequencing was employed to screen the expression profiles of miRNAs in serum samples of HCV-related HCC patients and liver cirrhosis (LC) patients. RT-qPCR was used to confirm the altered miRNAs between the two groups. Moreover, candidate miRNAs were examined in serum samples of 40 HCC patients, 54 LC patients, 55 patients with chronic HCV hepatitis and 45 healthy controls. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate the diagnostic performance of the miRNAs for the detection of HCC. RESULTS: Four miRNAs (miR-122-5p, miR-331-3p, miR-494-3p, miR-224-5p) were significantly increased and two miRNAs (miR-185-5p, miR-23b-3p) were significantly decreased in HCC patients compared to LC patients. ROC curve analysis demonstrated that the six miRNAs could be used as potential biomarkers for HCC detection. Combination of the six miRNAs could efficiently detect HCC in LC patients with the area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.995 and combination of the six miRNAs also provided high diagnostic accuracy (AUC = 0.961) for detection of HCC in non-HCC subjects. CONCLUSIONS: The six serum miRNAs can be utilized as a surrogate and non-invasive biomarker for HCV-related HCC diagnosis.