Diagnostic Value of Peripheral Blood miR-374b-5p in Patients with Prostate Cancer

Background: Increased evidence suggested the important role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the tumorigenesis of prostate cancer (PCa). The aberrant expression of miRNA (miR)-374b-5p has been observed in various types of cancers. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the relationship between miR-374b-5p expression levels and PCa and to assess the feasibility of using peripheral blood miR-374b-5p as a potential non-invasive biomarker for PCa. Methods: Total RNA was isolated from the whole-blood samples of 42 PCa patients whole-blood samples, 42 benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) patients, and 42 healthy controls (HC). The expression of miR-374b-5p was assessed by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Normalized data were subjected to the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and Kaplan-Meier analysis. Results: The expression of peripheral blood miR-374b-5p was significantly higher in PCa patients than in HC individuals and patients with BPH (p < 0.001). Upregulation of miR-374b-5p was observed to be related to certain parameters, including Gleason score > 7 (p < 0.001), and PSA > 20 ng/mL (p < 0.01). To further evaluate the role of miR-374b-5p in patients with PCa, ROC analysis was carried out. Our data showed that peripheral blood miR-374b-5p could screen PCa patients from HC individuals (area under the curve (AUC), 0.851; 95% CI, 0.766 - 0.936; p < 0.001) and patients with BPH (AUC, 0.831; 95% CI, 0.742 - 0.920; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Increased miR-374b-5p expression in peripheral blood may serve as a potential biomarker to distinguish PCa patients from healthy controls and BPH patients.