The diagnostic role of plasma circulating precursors of miRNA-944 and miRNA-3662 for non-small cell lung cancer detection

Introduction: microRNA (miRNA) seem to be most attractive cancer markers due their crucial role in tumor development and possibility of their analysis using liquid biopsy. To date there is little known about role of miRNA precursors (pri-miRNA) in carcinogenesis and their utility as tumor markers. Material and methods: miRNA-944 and miRNA-3662 precursors as potential non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) markers were analyzed in plasma samples of 56 patients in an early stage of NSCLC and 100 healthy individuals. Results: Diagnostic test based on two studied markers for stage I-111A of the disease allowed to distinguish NSCLC from healthy individuals with 75.7% sensitivity and 82.3% specificity (AUC = 0.898). pri-miRNA-944 distinguished SCC from AC with sensitivity of 78.6% and specificity of 91.7% (AUC = 0.771), and pri-miRNA-3662 distinguished AC from SCC with 57.1% sensitivity and 90% specificity (AUC = 0.845). Conclusion: Circulating pri-miRNA-944 and 3662 can improve non-invasive NSCLC detection of operable stages of SCC and AC. miRNA precursors could be considered as novel potential lung cancer biomarkers.