Three serum miRNAs as potential biomarkers for early diagnosis of cervical cancer

This study aimed to analyze the changes associated with serum miRNAs in patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and cervical cancer in predicting early-stage cervical cancer. A total of 229 serum samples were collected to extract miRNAs. The expression level of miR-146b-5p, miR-192-5p and miR-122-5p were determined via qRT-PCR (Quantitative Real-time PCR), and their relative expressions were calculated using the equation: 2−∆∆Ct. We observed significantly higher expression levels of serum miR-146b-5p, miR-192-5p and miR-122-5p in the cervical diseases (CIN and cervical cancer) compared with controls. The expression levels of serum miR-146b-5p, miR-192-5p and miR-122-5p in cervical cancer were significantly higher than in controls. The relative expressions of serum miR-146b-5p and miR-192-5p in CIN were significantly higher than controls. However, there was no difference in three miRNAs between CIN and cervical cancer. The relative expressions of serum miR-146b-5p in patients classified as FIGO (International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics) stage I were significantly higher than in controls and CIN. The AUC (area under the ROC curve) of the three miRNAs combined with SCC (squamous cell carcinoma antigen) in diagnosing cervical cancer was 0.840, and the sensitivity and specificity were 0.632 and 0.957, respectively. Serum miR-146b-5p, miR-192-5p and miR-122-5p showed promising efficacy as noninvasive biomarkers to accurately diagnose cervical cancer and demonstrated certain early diagnostic values, especially miR-146b-5p and miR-192-5p. The combined use of the three serum miRNAs with SCC could further improve the diagnostic efficiency for cervical cancer.