International Journal of General Medicine (Apr 2024)
The Combination of circEPSTI1 and MIF Offers Diagnostic Value for Endometrial Cancer
Abstract
Zhili Cui,1 Liyuan Zhou,1 Xin An,2 Wenli Liu,1 Jingxia Li,1 Yueping Zhang,3 Wei Zhang4 1Department of Gynecology, Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University of Engineering, Handan, Hebei, 056002, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Pathology, Handan First Hospital, Handan, Hebei, 056000, People’s Republic of China; 3Shexian Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Shexian, Hebei, 056004, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Gynecology, Handan Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Handan, Hebei, 056001, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Zhili Cui, Department of Gynecology, Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University of Engineering, No. 81 Congtai Road, Congtai District, Handan, Hebei, 056002, People’s Republic of China, Tel + 86-3103962266, Email [email protected]: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) exhibit unique patterns of expression and high levels of stability in patient plasma samples such that they represent ideal non-invasive biomarkers that can be leveraged to detect a wide array of diseases including endometrial cancer (EC). This study was designed to identify circRNAs with potential diagnostic utility in serum samples from EC patients while also evaluating the utility of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) as a biomarker when screening for this form of cancer in the clinic.Methods: Levels of circEPSTI1 and MIF were assessed in the plasma of EC patients and healthy subjects (n=186 each) through qPCR and ELISAs. The diagnostic utility of these biomarkers was assessed with receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analyses.Results: Relative to healthy subjects, EC patient serum contained significantly elevated circEPSTI1 and MIF. An association was noted between circEPSTI1 expression in stages, histologic grade, and residual tumor. ROC curves confirmed that serum circEPSTI1 levels distinguished between controls and patients with EC with an Area of 0.835 and serum MIF levels distinguished between controls and patients with EC with an Area of 0.6646. When instead diagnosing patients based on the combination of MIF and circEPSTI1, the Area further rose to 0.8604.Conclusion: Assessing the combination of circEPSTI1 and MIF may be a viable approach to reliably diagnosing EC.Keywords: circEPSTI1, MIF, diagnostic biomarker, endometrial cancer
