Circulating miRNA-21-5p as a diagnostic biomarker for pancreatic cancer: evidence from comprehensive miRNA expression profiling analysis and clinical validation

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a highly fatal disease worldwide and is often misdiagnosed in its early stages. The exploration of novel non-invasive biomarkers will definitely benefit PC patients. Recently, circulating miRNAs in body fluids are emerging as non-invasive biomarkers for PC diagnosis. In this study, we first conducted comprehensive robust rank aggregation (RRA) analysis based on 21 published miRome profiling studies. We statistically identified and clinically validated a miRNA expression pattern in PC patients. These miRNAs consisted of four up-regulated (hsa-miR-21-5p, hsa-miR-31-5p, hsa-miR-210-3p and hsa-miR-155-5p) and three down-regulated miRNAs (hsa-miR-217, hsa-miR-148a-3p and hsa-miR-375). Among them, hsa-miR-21-5p was one of the most highly expressed miRNAs in the serum of PC patients. Our validation test further suggested a relatively high accuracy of serum hsa-miR-21-5p levels in the diagnosis of PC, with a sensitivity of 0.77 and a specificity of 0.80. Finally, a diagnostic meta-analysis based on 9 studies also revealed favorable sensitivity and specificity of circulating hsa-miR-21-5p for the diagnosis of PC (pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.76 and 0.74, respectively), which was consistent with our findings. Taken together, as one of the most aberrantly expressed miRNAs in PC, circulating hsa-miR-21-5p might be a promising serum biomarker in patients with PC.