A novel tRNA-derived small RNA 5'-tiRNA-His is a promising biomarker for diagnosis of colorectal cancer

Abstract Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most serious gastrointestinal tumors. The survival rate of patients with advanced stages is meager, so it is urgent to identify new diagnostic biomarkers with high sensitivity and specificity. tRNA-derived small RNAs (tsRNAs) are an emerging class of small non-coding RNAs that are highly abundant in the blood of cancer patients and are associated with various physiological and pathological processes. Therefore, the clinical value of tsRNAs in diagnosing CRC requires further investigation. In this study, we identified the differential expression profiles of tsRNAs in CRC tissues via Pandora sequencing. We selected 5'-tiRNA-His that were significantly highly expressed in CRC plasma and tissues for further investigation. Interestingly, the expression level of 5'-tiRNA-His was increased dramatically in the plasma of CRC patients and correlated with various clinicopathologic parameters. ROC analysis revealed that 5'-tiRNA-His had good diagnostic value in diagnosing CRC patients, superior to that of CEA, CA199, and CA724, and could significantly differentiate patients with CRC from healthy donors and patients with intestinal polyps. Moreover, 5'-tiRNA-His still had good diagnostic efficacy in the diagnosis of patients with early-stage CRC, and the diagnostic efficacy was further elevated when combined with clinically used tumor markers. In conclusion, our study identified plasma 5'-tiRNA-His as a promising biomarker for diagnosing and screening CRC.