Secreted and Tissue miRNAs as Diagnosis Biomarkers of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma

Our plain-English summary of Secreted and Tissue miRNAs as Diagnosis Biomarkers of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma, by V. Martínez-Rivera, M.C. Negrete-García, F. Ávila-Moreno, et al (International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2018).

The study

• Authors: V. Martínez-Rivera, M.C. Negrete-García, F. Ávila-Moreno, B. Ortiz-Quintero
• Journal: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
• Published: 2018;19(2)
• Type of article: Review
• Cited by: 27 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare but aggressive tumor that originates in the pleura, is diagnosed in advanced stages and has a poor prognosis. Accurate diagnosis of MPM is often difficult and complex, and the gold standard diagnosis test is based on qualitative analysis of markers in pleural tissue by immunohistochemical staining. Therefore, it is necessary to develop quantitative and non-subjective alternative diagnostic tools. MicroRNAs are non-coding RNAs that regulate essential cellular mechanisms at the post-transcriptional level. Recent evidence indicates that miRNA expression in tissue and body fluids is aberrant in various tumors, revealing miRNAs as promising diagnostic biomarkers. This review summarizes evidence regarding secreted and tissue miRNAs as biomarkers of MPM and the biological characteristics associated with their potential diagnostic value. In addition to studies regarding miRNAs with potential diagnostic value for MPM, studies that aimed to identify the miRNAs involved in molecular mechanisms associated with MPM development are described with an emphasis on relevant aspects of the experimental designs that may influence the accuracy, consistency and real diagnostic value of currently reported data.

In plain English

This was a review, not a new study. The authors summarized published research, from a 2009 study through studies published in 2017, on whether microRNAs (small RNA molecules) measured in pleural tissue, blood cells, serum or plasma could help diagnose malignant pleural mesothelioma. Several of the reviewed studies compared mesothelioma patients with cancer-free people who had been exposed to asbestos. The authors listed microRNAs reported by more than one study with laboratory confirmation. These included lower miR-145 in pleural tissue in three independent studies and lower miR-126 in serum in three successive studies. In one reviewed study of 43 male mesothelioma patients and 52 male controls formerly exposed to asbestos, combining miR-103a-3p with mesothelin gave a sensitivity of 95% and a specificity of 81%. The authors found that most studies used small numbers of samples and none presented sample size calculations. Only three blood-based studies explained how controls were confirmed healthy. The authors concluded that larger prospective studies are needed and that, to date, no study had reached clinical use of microRNAs for diagnosis.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: narrative review of published studies
• Who was studied: Published studies of microRNAs in malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), from the first such study in 2009 to studies published in 2017, using pleural tissue, the cellular fraction of peripheral blood, serum, plasma and pleural cytology samples
• Exposure: The review itself measured no exposure. It concerns microRNA tests for diagnosis. Several reviewed studies used cancer-free asbestos-exposed people as a comparison group.
• Main results:
  • Three independent studies reported lower miR-145 in the pleural tissue of MPM patients.
  • Lower miR-126 in the serum of MPM patients was reported in three successive studies (Santarelli et al. 2011, Tomasetti et al. 2012, Santarelli et al. 2015).
  • In a reviewed study (Weber et al. 2014) of 43 male MPM patients and 52 male controls formerly exposed to asbestos, combining mesothelin and miR-103a-3p gave a sensitivity of 95% and a specificity of 81% for MPM diagnosis.
  • None of the published studies presented power or sample size calculations.
  • Only three blood, serum or plasma studies described how the healthy status of their control subjects was verified.
  • Only a few studies identified and validated stable reference microRNAs for normalizing their measurements.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that larger prospective studies are needed to confirm the diagnostic value of the candidate microRNAs. They also concluded that, so far, no study had achieved clinical use of microRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Lung cancer, Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Biomarker, Pleural Mesothelioma, Pleura, Prognosis, Immunohistochemistry.

Related studies

• Identification of miRNA-103 in the cellular fraction of human peripheral blood as a potential biomarker for malignant mesothelioma--a pilot study — D.G. Weber, G. Johnen, et al. (2012)
• Plasmatic extracellular vesicle microRNAs in malignant pleural mesothelioma and asbestos-exposed subjects suggest a 2-miRNA signature as potential biomarker of disease — T. Cavalleri, L. Angelici, et al. (2017)
• Combination of MiR-103a-3p and mesothelin improves the biomarker performance of malignant mesothelioma diagnosis — D.G. Weber, S. Casjens, et al. (2014)
• Serum Expression Levels of Certain miRNAs in Predicting Diagnosis, Prognosis, and Response to Chemotherapy in Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma — M. Metintaş, G. Ak, et al. (2022)
• Two Different Serum MiRNA Signatures Correlate with the Clinical Outcome and Histological Subtype in Pleural Malignant Mesothelioma Patients — M. Lamberti, R. Capasso, et al. (2015)
• Four-miRNA Signature to Identify Asbestos-Related Lung Malignancies — L. Santarelli, S. Gaetani, et al. (2019)

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