Abstract:
Background: Early detection and screening of breast cancer (BC) might help improve
the prognosis of BC patients. This study evaluated the use of serum microRNAs (miRs) as non-
invasive biomarkers in BC patients. Methods: Using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction,
we evaluated the serum expression of four candidate miRs (miR-155, miR-373, miR-10b, and miR-
34a) in 99 Egyptian BC patients and 40 healthy subjects (as a control). The miRs expression was
correlated with clinicopathological data. In addition, the sensitivity and specificity of the miRs were
determined using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results: Serum miR-155,
miR-373, and miR-10b expression were significantly upregulated (p < 0.001), while serum miR-34a
was downregulated (p < 0.00) in nonmetastatic (M0) BC patients compared to the control group.
In addition, serum miR-155 and miR-10b were upregulated in BC patients with large tumor sizes
and extensive nodal involvement (p < 0.001). ROC curve analysis showed high diagnostic accuracy
(area under the curve = 1.0) when the four miRs were combined. Serum miR-373 was significantly
upregulated in the human epidermal growth factor 2–negative (p < 0.001), estrogen receptor–positive
(p < 0.005), and progesterone receptor (PR)-positive (p < 0.024) in BC patients, and serum miR-155
was significantly upregulated in PR-negative (p < 0.001) BC patients while both serum miR-155 and
miR-373 were positively correlated with the tumor grade. Conclusions: Circulating serum miR-155,
miR-373, miR-10b, and miR-34a are potential biomarkers for early BC detection in Egyptian patients
and their combination shows high sensitivity and specificity.
