The Validity of Circulating MicroRNAs in Oncology: Five Years of Challenges and Contradictions

Overview

Journal Mol Oncol

Specialties Molecular Biology
Oncology

Date 2014 Mar 25

PMID 24656978

Citations 83

Authors

J Jarry

D Schadendorf

C Greenwood

A Spatz

L C van Kempen

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) in circulation have received an increasing amount of interest as potential minimal invasive diagnostic tools in oncology. Several diagnostic, prognostic and predictive signatures have been proposed for a variety of cancers at different stages of disease, but these have not been subjected to a critical review regarding their validity: reproducible identification in comparable studies and/or with different platforms of miRNA detection. In this review, we will critically address the results of circulating miRNA research in oncology that have been published between January 2008 and June 2013 (5.5 years), and discuss pre-analytical challenges, technological pitfalls and limitations that may contribute to the non-reproducibility of circulating miRNA research.

Citing Articles

Integrated triple signal amplification strategy for ultrasensitive electrochemical detection of gastric cancer-related microRNA utilizing MoS-based nanozyme, hybridization chain reaction, and horseradish peroxidase.

Ma J, Yao Q, Lv S, Yi J, Zhu D, Zhu C J Nanobiotechnology. 2024; 22(1):596.

PMID: 39354525 PMC: 11445865. DOI: 10.1186/s12951-024-02848-z.

Extracellular circulating miRNAs as potential non-invasive biomarkers in non-small cell lung cancer patients.

Raczkowska J, Bielska A, Kretowski A, Niemira M Front Oncol. 2023; 13:1209299.

PMID: 37546401 PMC: 10401434. DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1209299.

Critical Considerations for Investigating MicroRNAs during Tumorigenesis: A Case Study in Conceptual and Contextual Nuances of miR-211-5p in Melanoma.

Vand-Rajabpour F, Savage M, Belote R, Judson-Torres R Epigenomes. 2023; 7(2).

PMID: 37218870 PMC: 10204420. DOI: 10.3390/epigenomes7020009.

MicroRNAs: Small Molecules with Significant Functions, Particularly in the Context of Viral Hepatitis B and C Infection.

Megahed F, Tabll A, Atta S, Ragheb A, Smolic R, Petrovic A Medicina (Kaunas). 2023; 59(1).

PMID: 36676797 PMC: 9862007. DOI: 10.3390/medicina59010173.

Establishment of preanalytical conditions for microRNA profile analysis of clinical plasma samples.

Suzuki K, Yamaguchi T, Kohda M, Tanaka M, Takemura H, Wakita M PLoS One. 2022; 17(12):e0278927.

PMID: 36516194 PMC: 9750036. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0278927.

References

Shen J, Todd N, Zhang H, Yu L, Lingxiao X, Mei Y . Plasma microRNAs as potential biomarkers for non-small-cell lung cancer. Lab Invest. 2010; 91(4):579-87. PMC: 3130190. DOI: 10.1038/labinvest.2010.194. View

Komatsu S, Ichikawa D, Takeshita H, Tsujiura M, Morimura R, Nagata H . Circulating microRNAs in plasma of patients with oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Br J Cancer. 2011; 105(1):104-11. PMC: 3137413. DOI: 10.1038/bjc.2011.198. View

Armbruster D, Pry T . Limit of blank, limit of detection and limit of quantitation. Clin Biochem Rev. 2008; 29 Suppl 1:S49-52. PMC: 2556583. View

Roth C, Stuckrath I, Pantel K, Izbicki J, Tachezy M, Schwarzenbach H . Low levels of cell-free circulating miR-361-3p and miR-625* as blood-based markers for discriminating malignant from benign lung tumors. PLoS One. 2012; 7(6):e38248. PMC: 3366929. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0038248. View

Li C, Li J, Cai Q, Qiu Q, Yan M, Liu B . MiRNA-199a-3p: A potential circulating diagnostic biomarker for early gastric cancer. J Surg Oncol. 2013; 108(2):89-92. DOI: 10.1002/jso.23358. View

Tjensvoll K, Svendsen K, Reuben J, Oltedal S, Gilje B, Smaaland R . miRNA expression profiling for identification of potential breast cancer biomarkers. Biomarkers. 2012; 17(5):463-70. DOI: 10.3109/1354750X.2012.686061. View

Luo X, Stock C, Burwinkel B, Brenner H . Identification and evaluation of plasma microRNAs for early detection of colorectal cancer. PLoS One. 2013; 8(5):e62880. PMC: 3653912. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0062880. View

Faye L, Sun L, Dimitromanolakis A, Bull S . A flexible genome-wide bootstrap method that accounts for ranking and threshold-selection bias in GWAS interpretation and replication study design. Stat Med. 2011; 30(15):1898-912. DOI: 10.1002/sim.4228. View

Guo L, Zhang Q . Decreased serum miR-181a is a potential new tool for breast cancer screening. Int J Mol Med. 2012; 30(3):680-6. DOI: 10.3892/ijmm.2012.1021. View

10.

Selth L, Townley S, Gillis J, Ochnik A, Murti K, Macfarlane R . Discovery of circulating microRNAs associated with human prostate cancer using a mouse model of disease. Int J Cancer. 2011; 131(3):652-61. DOI: 10.1002/ijc.26405. View

11.

Weber J, Baxter D, Zhang S, Huang D, Huang K, Lee M . The microRNA spectrum in 12 body fluids. Clin Chem. 2010; 56(11):1733-41. PMC: 4846276. DOI: 10.1373/clinchem.2010.147405. View

12.

Hammerle-Fickinger A, Riedmaier I, Becker C, Meyer H, Pfaffl M, Ulbrich S . Validation of extraction methods for total RNA and miRNA from bovine blood prior to quantitative gene expression analyses. Biotechnol Lett. 2009; 32(1):35-44. DOI: 10.1007/s10529-009-0130-2. View

13.

El-Hefnawy T, Raja S, Kelly L, Bigbee W, Kirkwood J, Luketich J . Characterization of amplifiable, circulating RNA in plasma and its potential as a tool for cancer diagnostics. Clin Chem. 2004; 50(3):564-73. DOI: 10.1373/clinchem.2003.028506. View

14.

Kurashige J, Kamohara H, Watanabe M, Tanaka Y, Kinoshita K, Saito S . Serum microRNA-21 is a novel biomarker in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. J Surg Oncol. 2012; 106(2):188-92. DOI: 10.1002/jso.23064. View

15.

Konishi H, Ichikawa D, Komatsu S, Shiozaki A, Tsujiura M, Takeshita H . Detection of gastric cancer-associated microRNAs on microRNA microarray comparing pre- and post-operative plasma. Br J Cancer. 2012; 106(4):740-7. PMC: 3322946. DOI: 10.1038/bjc.2011.588. View

16.

Willeit P, Zampetaki A, Dudek K, Kaudewitz D, King A, Kirkby N . Circulating microRNAs as novel biomarkers for platelet activation. Circ Res. 2013; 112(4):595-600. DOI: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.111.300539. View

17.

Heneghan H, Miller N, Lowery A, Sweeney K, Newell J, Kerin M . Circulating microRNAs as novel minimally invasive biomarkers for breast cancer. Ann Surg. 2010; 251(3):499-505. DOI: 10.1097/SLA.0b013e3181cc939f. View

18.

Sun L, Dimitromanolakis A, Faye L, Paterson A, Waggott D, Bull S . BR-squared: a practical solution to the winner's curse in genome-wide scans. Hum Genet. 2011; 129(5):545-52. PMC: 3074069. DOI: 10.1007/s00439-011-0948-2. View

19.

Dong X, Rodriguez C, Guo P, Sun X, Talbot J, Zhou W . SnoRNA U50 is a candidate tumor-suppressor gene at 6q14.3 with a mutation associated with clinically significant prostate cancer. Hum Mol Genet. 2008; 17(7):1031-42. PMC: 2923223. DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddm375. View

20.

Cui E, Li H, Hua F, Wang B, Mao W, Feng X . Serum microRNA 125b as a diagnostic or prognostic biomarker for advanced NSCLC patients receiving cisplatin-based chemotherapy. Acta Pharmacol Sin. 2012; 34(2):309-13. PMC: 4011618. DOI: 10.1038/aps.2012.125. View