CIRCULATING miR-1-3p, miR-96-5p, miR-148a-3p, and miR-375-3p Support Differentiation Between Prostate Cancer and Benign Prostate Lesions

Introduction: microRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs and promising cancer biomarkers. Here, we searched for circulating miRNAs that could serve as biomarkers facilitating differentiation between PCa and benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH). Patients: 66 patients with PCa or BPH were investigated (33 patients in each cohort). Methods: We performed RNAseq of PCa and BPH serum samples, integrated our data with TCGA-PRAD cohort, followed by qPCR validation using independent cohort of PCa and BPH patients. Results: Expression of serum miR-1-3p, miR-96-5p, miR-148a-3p, and miR-375-3p was decreased in PCa patients when compared to BPH samples. Expression of serum miR-148-3p and [miR-148a-3p, miR-375-3p] geometric mean correlated with the maximum dimension of PCa tumours. Diagnostic accuracy of combinations of PSA with geometric means of [miR-1-3p, miR-148a-3p], [miR-148a-3p, miR-375-3p], and [miR-375-3p, miR-96-5p] exceed diagnostic value of PSA alone, with the top AUC 0.97 for [miR-1-3p, miR-148a-3p]/PSA (cutoff < 0.002893, sensitivity 95.83 %, specificity 91.30 %). Conclusions: In conclusion, we found a miRNAs that can support PCa diagnosis.