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Page 35
Volume 1
Journal of Blood Disorders and Treatment
World Hematology 2018
October 22-23, 2018
October 22-23, 2018 Warsaw, Poland
10
th
World
Hematology and Oncology Congress
J Blood Disord Treat 2018, Volume 1
MiRNAs as potential biomarkers for human cancers
Jian Shi
1
, Lily Zhong
1
and Shiwei Huang
2
1
University of California, USA
2
Drexel University College of Medicine, USA
C
ancer is a fatal human disease capable of spreading throughout the body extremely fast. As of now, early diagnosis of cancer
is the most effective method to prevent cancer development and devise the most efficient and effective treatments. Therefore,
early diagnosis is critical to achieving higher survival rates for patients. Many traditional diagnostic methods for cancer are still
inadequate for early, convenient, accurate and non-invasive diagnosis. Specifically, Glioblastoma Multiform (GBM) is the most
common primary malignant brain tumor, which the five-year survival rate is only 0.05% to 4.7%. Thus, the need to find more
effective biomarkers is paramount in insuring early discovery and effective treatments for patients. Recently, there have been reports
that indicate the possibility of microRNAs (miRNAs) as potential biomarkers for cancers. In this study, we attempt to answer two
questions, could the exosomal miR-21 be used as a universal biomarker for cancer? We used the meta-analysis method to evaluate ten
studies involving 318 patients and 215 healthy controls. In all, the analysis covered 10 types of cancers. In addition, we also examined
and evaluated many other common issues with biomarkers, including cutoff points, internal controls and detection methods. This
initial meta-analysis indicates that the exosomal miR-21 from body fluids has a strong potential to be used as a universal biomarker
to identify cancers. As a continuation from the first question, we also consider, could we find any miRNA biomarkers specifically for
the diagnosis of GBM? In order to predict GBM related miRNAs and their targets, we used a bioinformatics algorism-the Relative
R-Squared Method (RRSM)-to analyze the miRNA and mRNA expression profiles and motif complementary sequences. Then, real-
time PCR was used to confirm the predicted miRNA candidates in human GBM tissues and cancer cell lines. Furthermore, we used
bioinformatics methods and molecular techniques to analyze the related gene expression and regulatory pathways. The results of
these studies indicate that variations in miRNA expression have been observed in cancer tissues and biological fluids. The fact that
some highly stable miRNAs circulate in the blood and Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) of both healthy individuals and diagnosed patients
has raised the possibility that miRNAs may serve as novel diagnostic markers. Also, increased understanding of the interaction
between miRNAs and mRNAs involved in GBM progression may lead to the discovery of predictive biomarkers, some of which are
clinically relevant for targeted therapy and predicting prognosis. However, as this field is in the beginning, some different studies have
conflicting results. In order to make more progress in the field, there is still a need to combine different advanced techniques, such as
bioinformatics methods and other molecular and cellular techniques.
jian.shi@ucsf.edu