Secreted miR-210-3p as non-invasive biomarker in clear cell renal cell carcinoma

// Vincenzo Petrozza 1, * , Antonio Luigi Pastore 2, * , Giovanni Palleschi 2 , Claudia Tito 3 , Natale Porta 1 , Serena Ricci 4 , Chiara Marigliano 5 , Manuela Costantini 6, 7 , Giuseppe Simone 7 , Angelina Di Carlo 4 , Michele Gallucci 7 , Antonio Carbone 2,* and Francesco Fazi 3,* 1 Department of Medico-Surgical Sciences and Biotechnologies, Sapienza University of Rome, Pathology Unit ICOT, Latina, Italy 2 Department of Medico Surgical Sciences and Biotechnologies, Sapienza University of Rome, Urology Unit ICOT, Latina, Italy 3 Department of Anatomical, Histological, Forensic & Orthopaedic Sciences, Section of Histology & Medical Embryology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy 4 Department of Medico-Surgical Sciences and Biotechnologies, Sapienza University of Rome, Latina, Italy 5 Department of Radiological Sciences, Oncology and Pathology, Azienda Policlinico Umberto I, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy 6 Department of Biosciences, Biotechnologies and Biopharmaceutics, University of Bari, Bari, Italy 7 Department of Urology, Regina Elena National Cancer Institute of Rome, Rome, Italy * These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Francesco Fazi, email: francesco.fazi@uniroma1.it Antonio Carbone, email: antonio.carbone@uniroma1.it Keywords: microRNAs, biomarkers, ccRCC, miR-210-3p, urine specimens Received: January 16, 2017      Accepted: May 06, 2017      Published: June 13, 2017 ABSTRACT The most common subtype of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is clear cell RCC (ccRCC). It accounts for 70-80% of all renal malignancies representing the third most common urological cancer after prostate and bladder cancer. The identification of non-invasive biomarkers for the diagnosis and responsiveness to therapy of ccRCC may represent a relevant step-forward in ccRCC management. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether specific miRNAs deregulated in ccRCC tissues present altered levels also in urine specimens. To this end we first assessed that miR-21-5p, miR-210-3p and miR-221-3p resulted upregulated in ccRCC fresh frozen tissues compared to matched normal counterparts. Next, we evidenced that miR-210-3p resulted significantly up-regulated in 38 urine specimens collected from two independent cohorts of ccRCC patients at the time of surgery compared to healthy donors samples. Of note, miR-210-3p levels resulted significantly reduced in follow-up samples. These results point to miR-210-3p as a potential non-invasive biomarker useful not only for diagnosis but also for the assessment of complete resection or response to treatment in ccRCC management.