Objective: To investigate the expressional levels and diagnostic values of miR-18a and miR-21 in esophageal carcinoma. Methods: The expressions of miR-18a and miR-21 in esophageal cancer tissues and adjacent tissues from 45 esophageal cancer patients, peripheral blood from 45 esophageal cancer patients and 50 healthy donors respectively were detected by RT-PCR. The expressions of miR-18a and miR-21 in normal esophageal epithelial cell HET-1A, esophageal cancer cell lines including ECA109, KYSE150 and TE1 were also detected. Chemiluminescence immunoassay was used to quantitatively detect the concentrations of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC), CYRFA21-1 and TPA (tissue polypeptide antigen) in peripheral blood serum from esophageal cancer patients and healthy controls. Meanwhile, the diagnostic effects of miR-18a and miR-21 on esophageal cancer were compared with those of tumor markers in serum. Results: The expression levels of miR-18a and miR-21 in esophageal cancer cells ECA109, KYSE150 and TE1 were 1.64±0.17, 1.62±0.19, 1.46±0.12 and 20.52±1.48, 6.73±0.73, 1.43±0.19, respectively, higher than those in normal esophageal epithelial cells (both P<0.01). The expressions of miR-18a and miR-21 in esophageal cancer tissues were 32.48±28.62 and 8.67±11.98, respectively, significantly higher than those in adjacent tissues (all P<0.001). The expression levels of miR-18a and miR-21 in peripheral blood of patients with esophageal cancer were 12.66±11.92 and 9.15±8.14, respectively, significantly higher than those in the normal control group (both P<0.001). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that the area under the curve of miR-18a and miR-21 for diagnosis of esophageal cancer were 0.948 and 0.913 5, respectively. Compared with traditional esophageal tumor markers, the expressions of miR-18a and miR-21 were more sensitive in the diagnosis of esophageal cancer. The sensitivity and accuracy of the expressions of miR-18a and miR-21 combined with traditional esophageal tumor markers in diagnosis of esophageal cancer can be further improved to 97.8% and 68.4%, respectively. Conclusion: Our study reveals that the expressions of miR-18a and miR-21 play important roles in the diagnosis of esophageal cancer and may be potentially novel biomarkers.
目的： 探讨miR－18a和miR－21在食管癌中的表达及其对食管癌的诊断价值。 方法： 采用逆转录聚合酶链反应检测miR－18a和miR－21在食管癌细胞系ECA109、KYSE150、TE1和正常食管上皮细胞HET－1A，45例食管癌组织、癌旁组织，45例食管癌患者和50名正常对照者外周血血清中的表达。采用化学发光免疫分析仪检测食管癌患者和健康对照者外周血血清中食管癌传统肿瘤标志物癌胚抗原(CEA)、鳞癌抗原(SCC)、Cyrfa21－1和组织多肽抗原(TPA)的浓度。评价miR－18a和miR－21与血清中传统肿瘤标志物对食管癌的诊断效能。 结果： 食管癌细胞ECA109、KYSE150和TE1中miR－18a和miR－21的表达水平分别为1.64±0.17、1.62±0.19、1.46±0.12和20.52±1.48、6.73±0.73、1.43±0.19，高于正常食管上皮细胞(均P<0.01)。食管癌组织中miR－18a和miR－21的表达分别为32.48±28.62和8.67±11.98，显著高于癌旁组织(均P<0.001)。食管癌患者外周血血清中miR－18a和miR－21表达水平分别为12.66±11.92和9.15±8.14，显著高于正常对照组(均P<0.001)。受试者工作特征(ROC)曲线分析显示，miR－18a和miR－21诊断食管癌的曲线下面积分别为0.948和0.9135。与传统食管肿瘤标志物比较，血清miR－18a和miR－21对食管癌诊断的灵敏度更高，而联合传统食管肿瘤标志物可进一步提高食管癌诊断的灵敏度和准确度，分别为97.8%和68.4%。 结论： miR－18a和miR－21对食管癌具有诊断价值，可能成为潜在的新型生物标志物。.
Keywords: Diagnosis; Esophageal neoplasms; Tumor markers; miR-18a; miR-21.