TY - JOUR
T1 - Circulating miRNA Expression Is Inversely Correlated with Tumor Tissue or Sentinel Lymph Nodes in Estrogen Receptor-Positive Early Breast Cancer Patients
AU - Escuin i Borràs, Daniel
AU - López Vilaró, Laura
AU - Bell, Olga
AU - Mora, Josefina
AU - García-Valdecasas Vilanova, Bárbara
AU - Moral Duarte, Antonio
AU - Clos Enríquez, Montserrat
AU - Boronat, Laia
AU - Arqueros, Cristina
AU - Barnadas i Molins, Agustí
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - The deregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) is associated with the various steps of the metastatic process. In addition, circulating miRNAs are remarkably stable in peripheral blood, making them ideal noninvasive biomarkers for disease diagnosis. Here, we performed a proof-of-principle study to determine whether tumor-tissue-derived miRNAs are traceable to plasma in ER-positive early breast cancer patients. We performed RNA-sequencing on 30 patients for whom plasma, sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) and tumor tissue were available. We carried out differential expression, gene ontology and enrichment analyses. Our results show that circulating miRNAs are inversely expressed compared with tumor tissue or SLNs obtained from the same patients. Our differential expression analysis shows the overall downregulation of circulating miRNAs. However, the expression of miR-643a-3p and miR-223 was up-regulated in patients with positive SLNs. Furthermore, gene ontology analysis showed the significant enrichment of biological processes associated with the regulation of epithelial cell proliferation and transcriptional regulation commonly involved in the promotion of metastases. Our results suggest the potential role of several circulating miRNAs as surrogate markers of lymph node metastases in early breast cancer patients. Further preclinical and clinical studies are required to understand the biological significance of the most significant miRNAs and to validate our results in a larger cohort of patients.
AB - The deregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) is associated with the various steps of the metastatic process. In addition, circulating miRNAs are remarkably stable in peripheral blood, making them ideal noninvasive biomarkers for disease diagnosis. Here, we performed a proof-of-principle study to determine whether tumor-tissue-derived miRNAs are traceable to plasma in ER-positive early breast cancer patients. We performed RNA-sequencing on 30 patients for whom plasma, sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) and tumor tissue were available. We carried out differential expression, gene ontology and enrichment analyses. Our results show that circulating miRNAs are inversely expressed compared with tumor tissue or SLNs obtained from the same patients. Our differential expression analysis shows the overall downregulation of circulating miRNAs. However, the expression of miR-643a-3p and miR-223 was up-regulated in patients with positive SLNs. Furthermore, gene ontology analysis showed the significant enrichment of biological processes associated with the regulation of epithelial cell proliferation and transcriptional regulation commonly involved in the promotion of metastases. Our results suggest the potential role of several circulating miRNAs as surrogate markers of lymph node metastases in early breast cancer patients. Further preclinical and clinical studies are required to understand the biological significance of the most significant miRNAs and to validate our results in a larger cohort of patients.
KW - Biomarkers
KW - Early breast cancer
KW - Metastasis
KW - Mirnas
KW - Sentinel lymph node
U2 - 10.3390/ijms241713293
DO - 10.3390/ijms241713293
M3 - Article
C2 - 37686099
SN - 1422-0067
VL - 24
JO - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
JF - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
ER -