Plasma miR-127 and miR-218 Might Serve as Potential Biomarkers for Cervical Cancer

Abstract

Cervical cancer, a second common cancer in women, represents a major health care problem. Papanicolaou test, colposcopy, and different types of useful biomarkers are current major methods for detection of cervical cancer. However, these methods have the limitation of invasion, expensive cost, manpower issues, and low accuracy. The aim of this study is to explore the application of 3 plasma micro RNAs (miRNAs; miR-127, miR-205, and miR-218) in detection of cervical cancer. Blood samples were collected from 68 patients with cervical cancer, and plasma was extracted and stored at −80°C freezer until use. RUN6B was selected as an internal control to determine the relative expression levels of 3 miRNAs. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed. The result showed that the expression levels of miR-127 and miR-205 in cervical cancers were higher than that in controls (P < .001); however, there was no marked difference in expression of miR-218 in cervical cancers and controls (P > .05). Therefore, we conducted the receiver–operating characteristic curve analyses for miR-127 and miR-205. The sensitivity and specificity of miR-127 in distinguishing patients with cervical cancer from healthy controls were 75.51% and 83.82%, respectively, with the area under the curve (AUC) of 0.820. MiR-205 showed higher predictive value with an AUC of 0.843, sensitivity of 72.00%, and specificity of 82.35%. In conclusion, we identified the predictive power of 3 plasma miRNAs for cervical cancer, and consequence can be concluded that plasma miR-127 and miR-205 are promising tumor markers for cervical cancer.