Early detection breast cancer: role of circulating plasma miRNA-21 expression as a potential screening biomarker

Aim: To explore the potential of the circulating plasma miRNA-21 as an early detection biomarker by comparing early-stage breast cancer (BG) and healthy control (HG) in Indonesian population. Materials and methods: The enlisted patients were 26 adult female early-stage breast cancer patients (stage 1A, 1B, 2A, and 2B) of Airlangga University Hospital from August 2019 to October 2019. Sixteen volunteers were recruited as matching healthy subjects. MiRNA-21 expression was quantified by plasma qRT-PCR. Data analysis performed using IBM SPSS Statistics v.24 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). MiRNA-21 cut-off, sensitivity, and specificity were analyzed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results: The study included 26 BG and 16 HG subjects. The miRNA-21 expression in BG group was 3.933 (1.181-11.794) and 0.905 (0.164-4.532) in HG group (4.34 folds; P = 0.001), with 1.66 cut-off (92.3% sensitivity; 81.2% specificity). MiRNA-21 expression separated analysis in HG showed a 0.578 times lower expression in menopause subjects [0.651 (0.164-0.414)], compared to premenopause ones [(1.123 (0.758 -4.532); P = 0.031]. Yet, in BG group, 1.729 times higher miRNA-21 expression was observed in menopause subjects (6.021 +/- 3.583), compared to premenopause ones (3.500 +/- 1.517; P = 0.022). Conclusion: Circulating miRNA-21 expression is a potential biomarker for early detection of breast cancer and might act as a breast cancer risk predictor.

Automated summary

The study suggests that circulating plasma miRNA-21 may serve as an early detection biomarker for breast cancer in Indonesian population, with potential predictive value for breast cancer risk.