The importance of MicroRNA 29a as a biomarker in colon cancer

Abstract

Introduction: Colon cancer (CC) has become one of the most common diseases in recent years.The incidence of (CC) varies greatly worldwide, depending on lifestyle, environment, and genetic causes. Endoscopy is invasive and expensive for early detection. Therefore, there is a need to develop reliable and non-invasive markers for the early diagnosis of CC. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have attracted attention as promising biomarkers in other cancers In this study, our aim is to determine whether miRNAs are biomarkers in the early diagnosis of colon cancer. Materials and Methods: Twenty patients diagnosed with colon cancer and twenty healthy individuals of the same age and gender were selected as the control group. Four miRNAs (let-7g, miR-29a, miR-155, miR-200c) selected and MiR 181 and miR 192 used as the endogenous control group in line with their binding potentials and gene expression levels. They were measured with StepOne ™ Real-Time PCR. Results: mir29a was significantly high AUCs, thus the sensitivity and specificity values of was 100.0% and 64.3%. Common to all studies was MiR29a as sensitive and spesific like in our study. Conclusion: miR29a, is a hopeful miRNA in the early diagnosis of colon cancer, prognosis and treatment of the disease. Further validation studies are needed.