Diagnostic Values of miR-21, miR-124, and M-CSF in Patients With Early Cervical Cancer

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic values of microRNA-21, microRNA-124, and macrophage colony-stimulating factor in patients with cervical cancer. Methods: A total of 68 patients with cervical cancer admitted in our hospital (cervical cancer group) and 57 healthy individuals undergoing physical examinations (healthy group, also control group) were enrolled in this study. The expression of serum microRNA-21 and microRNA-124 was detected by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The expression of serum macrophage colony-stimulating factor was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The diagnostic values of microRNA-21, microRNA-124, and macrophage colony-stimulating factor in cervical cancer were analyzed. The correlations between the expression of microRNA-21 and microRNA-124 with that of macrophage colony-stimulating factor were also analyzed. Results: Compared to those in the healthy group, patients in the cervical cancer group had a higher expression of microRNA-21 and macrophage colony-stimulating factor ( P < .05) but lower expression of microRNA-124 ( P < .05). The expression of microRNA-21, microRNA-124, and macrophage colony-stimulating factor in the patients correlated with the tumor size, tumor node metastasis (TNM) staging, tumor differentiation, and the presence or absence of lymph node metastasis and human papillomavirus infection ( P < .05). According to the receiver operating characteristic curves, the area under the curve of microRNA-21 for diagnosing cervical cancer was 0.723, the specificity was 58.82%, and the sensitivity was 91.23%. The area under the curve of microRNA-124 was 0.766, the specificity was 94.12%, and the sensitivity was 57.89%. The area under the curve of macrophage colony-stimulating factor was 0.754, the specificity was 64.71%, and the sensitivity was 87.72%. Pearson correlation analysis showed that the expression of microRNA-21 positively correlated with that of macrophage colony-stimulating factor ( r = 0.6825, P < .001), and the expression of microRNA-124 negatively correlated with that of macrophage colony-stimulating factor ( r = −0.6476, P < .001). Conclusion: MicroRNA-21, microRNA-124, and macrophage colony-stimulating factor may be involved in the development and progression of cervical cancer. The detection of serum microRNA-21, microRNA-124, and macrophage colony-stimulating factor has good sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of cervical cancer.