Search Results (2)

Background and aim: Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most prevalent oncologic disease among men worldwide. Expression of various transcripts, including miRNAs, is markedly deregulated in cancerous prostate tissue. This study aimed at identifying a PCa-specific expression profile of miRNAs for subsequent use in noninvasive diagnostics.
Materials and methods: MiRNA expression was profiled in 13 PCa tissues using human miRNA microarrays. Highly expressed miRNAs were selected for the analysis in urine of patients with PCa (N = 143) and benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH; N = 23) by means of real time PCR, while miRNAs showing the expression differences in relation to clinical variables were further analyzed in 52 PCa and 12 noncancerous prostate tissues (NPT) on TaqMan Low Density Arrays (TLDA).
Results: Analysis of miRNA expression in prostate tissue linked miR-95 to aggressive form of PCa. This miRNA was up-regulated in high grade (P = 0.041), the TMPRSS2-ERG fusionpositive tumors (P = 0.026), and in patients with subsequently developed biochemical recurrence (BCR; P = 0.054) after radical prostatectomy. MiRNAs highly expressed in PCa tissues were also detectable in urine from PCa patients. Moreover, the urinary levels of miR- 21 had significant discriminatory power (P = 0.010) to separate PCa patients from BPH, while the combined analysis of urinary miR-19a and miR-19b was prognostic for BCR. In PCa, the diagnostic potential of urinary miRNA panel (miR-21, miR-19a, and miR-19b) was higher than that of the PSA test (AUC = 0.738 vs. AUC = 0.514).
Conclusions: Measurement of urinary levels of PCa-specific miRNAs could assist in more specific detection of PCa and prediction of BCR. Full article

Background and Objective. Breast cancer is the leading cause of death from cancer among women worldwide. The aberrant promoter methylation of tumor suppressor genes is a typical epigenetic alteration for breast cancer and can be detected in early carcinogenesis. High-throughput and cost-effective methods are needed for the early and sensitive detection of epigenetic changes in clinical material. The main purpose of our study was to optimize a high-resolution melting (HRM) assay for the reliable and quantitative assessment of RASSF1 gene methylation, which is considered one of the earliest epigenetic alterations in breast cancer.
Material and Methods. A total of 76 breast carcinomas and 10 noncancerous breast tissues were studied by means of HRM and compared with the results obtained by means of quantitative methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (QMSP) and methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP).
Results. Both quantitative methods, HRM and QMSP, showed a similar specificity and sensitivity for the detection of RASSF1 methylation in breast cancer (about 80% and 70%, respectively). In breast cancer, the mean methylation intensity of RASSF1 was 42.5% and 48.6% according to HRM and QMSP, respectively. Both methods detected low levels of methylation (less than 5%) in noncancerous breast tissues. In comparison with quantitative methods, MSP showed a lower sensitivity (70%), but a higher specificity (80%) for the detection of RASSF1 methylation in breast cancer.
Conclusions. HRM is as a simple, cost-effective method for the reliable high-throughput quantification of DNA methylation in clinical material. Full article