Three blood markers show promise for early prostate cancer detection
Researchers identified a panel of three microRNAs in blood that can distinguish prostate cancer from benign enlarged prostates with 73% accuracy. The finding could reduce unnecessary biopsies and improve screening efficiency, potentially reshaping how clinicians triage patients and opening a commercial opportunity for blood-based diagnostic companies.
Originaltitel: Circulating Extracellular Vesicle miRNAs for Distinguishing Prostate Cancer and Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia
ABSTRACT Our previous studies identified three microRNAs (miR-92a-1-5p, miR-375 and miR-148a-3p) potentially associated with prostate cancer (PCa), particularly in advanced stages such as bone-metastatic PCa. To evaluate their clinical diagnostic utility, we isolated extracellular vesicles (EVs) from the plasma of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and PCa (including localized and bone-metastatic disease). The absolute quantification of these three miRNAs within plasma EVs was performed using digital PCR. Results indicated that miR-148a-3p alone possessed a good ability to discriminate between PCa and BPH. Notably, a combined panel of all three miRNAs demonstrated improved diagnostic performance, achieving an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.736 for distinguishing PCa from BPH. These findings suggest that the plasma EV-derived miRNA panel (miR-92a-3p, miR-148a-3p, and miR-375-3p) holds promise as an auxiliary diagnostic biomarker for PCa and may aid in identifying bone metastasis.