Quayson Helena, Bonney Joseph Humphrey Kofi, Sam Daniel, Nuer-Allornuvor Gloria Francisca, Saahene Roland Osei, Thomford Nicholas Ekow, Amoani Benjamin, Abrokwah Francis, Pomeyie Karen, Salisu Musah Kalaamullah, Barnie Prince Amoah
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
Department of Virology, College of Health Sciences, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana.
J Cancer Res Clin Oncol. 2025 Sep 5;151(9):242. doi: 10.1007/s00432-025-06281-z.
Early cervical cancer diagnosis is a global challenge that needs to be addressed by the discovery of less invasive diagnostic and prognostic approaches. Circulating miRNAs are stable in plasma and their diagnostic potentials have been elucidated in some cancers. Therefore, in this cross-sectional study, we determined the patterns of expression of 7 selected circulating microRNAs that differ between patients with cervical cancer receiving therapy, patients with cervical not on therapy and healthy females. The goal was to investigate the diagnostic and prognostic potential of these selected miRNAs.
Total RNA was extracted from plasma samples collected from 53 participants recruited from Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, Ghana. Complementary DNA (cDNA) synthesis was performed, followed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to amplify and quantify the expression levels of the target microRNAs. Expression levels of seven microRNAs-hsa-miR-146a, hsa-miR-29a, hsa-miR-29b, hsa-miR-34a, hsa-miR-233, hsa-miR-155, and hsa-miR-27a were compared among three groups: healthy controls (n = 27), patients with cervical cancer on therapy (n = 13), and those not on therapy (n = 13).
miR-155 and miR-27a showed statistically significant differential expression between cancer patients and healthy controls. In addition, miR-29b expression levels differed significantly between stage 4b and stage 4a of patient with cervical cancer undergoing treatment.
These findings suggest that circulating plasma miRNAs may serve as non-invasive biomarkers for the early detection of cervical cancer, monitoring disease progression, and evaluating treatment response.
早期宫颈癌诊断是一项全球性挑战，需要通过发现侵入性较小的诊断和预后方法来解决。循环miRNA在血浆中稳定，其诊断潜力已在某些癌症中得到阐明。因此，在这项横断面研究中，我们确定了7种选定的循环微RNA的表达模式，这些微RNA在接受治疗的宫颈癌患者、未接受治疗的宫颈癌患者和健康女性之间存在差异。目的是研究这些选定miRNA的诊断和预后潜力。
从加纳Komfo Anokye教学医院和海岸角教学医院招募的53名参与者的血浆样本中提取总RNA。进行互补DNA（cDNA）合成，然后进行定量聚合酶链反应（qPCR）以扩增和定量目标微RNA的表达水平。比较了三组中七种微RNA（hsa-miR-146a、hsa-miR-29a、hsa-miR-29b、hsa-miR-34a、hsa-miR-233、hsa-miR-155和hsa-miR-27a）的表达水平：健康对照（n = 27）、接受治疗的宫颈癌患者（n = 13）和未接受治疗的患者（n = 13）。
miR-155和miR-27a在癌症患者和健康对照之间表现出统计学上的显著差异表达。此外，接受治疗的宫颈癌患者4b期和4a期之间的miR-29b表达水平存在显著差异。
这些发现表明，循环血浆miRNA可能作为早期检测宫颈癌、监测疾病进展和评估治疗反应的非侵入性生物标志物。
