Serum Extracellular Vesicle-Derived miRNAs in Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer—Search for Non-Invasive Diagnostic Biomarkers

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The aim of the study was a search for diagnostic and/or prognostic biomarkers in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, based on circulating microRNAs (miRs: miR-23a, miR-361, miR-1228 and miR-let7i) in extracellular vesicles (EVs). Serum EVs were isolated from NSCLC patients (n = 31) and control subjects (n = 21). RNA was isolated from EVs and reverse transcription reaction was performed. Relative levels of miR-23a, miR-361, miR-1228 and miR-let7i were assessed in real-time qPCR using TaqMan probes. Analysis was based on the 2-ΔΔCT method. Statistically significant lower levels of miR-23a and miR-let7i were observed among NSCLC patients vs. control group: miR-23a, 0.054 vs. 0.107; miR-let7i, 0.193 vs. 0.369 (p = 0.003, p = 0.005, respectively). A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis demonstrated the diagnostic potential of each individual serum EV-derived miRNA with an area under the curve AUC = 0.744 for miR-23a (p = 0.0003), 0.733 for miR-let7i (p = 0.0007). The decreased level of miR-23a in patients correlated with metastasis to lymph nodes and with AJCC tumor staging system. The results demonstrate that miR-23a and miR-let7i may prove clinically useful as significant, non-invasive markers in NSCLC diagnosis. Additionally, changing profile level of miR-23a that correlates with cancer development may be considered as an NSCLC progression marker.