Iraqi Journal of Hematology (Jan 2015)
Bronchial wash miR-21 as a potential biomarker for non-small cell lung cancer
Abstract
Background: Lung cancer is one of the major health problems all over the world. Most of cases are discovered at advanced stages because of late appearance of symptoms and the lack of efficient and effective methods for early diagnosis and screening of high risk groups. The microRNA-21(miR-21) was stably present and reliably measurable in all samples of bronchial wash whether positive or negative (control) for lung cancer. Objectives: to evaluate the expressions of the miRNA-21 as a minimally invasive diagnostic biomarker for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Results: Relative quantification of miR-21 gene showed overexpression in samples positive for NSCLC (non-small cell lung cancer) and ROC study yielding 85% sensitivity and 98% specificity in distinguishing NSCLC patients from controls with p-value < 0.05. Conclusion: altered expressions of the miR-21 in samples of bronchial wash may provide a potential biomarker for detection of non-small cell lung cancer.
