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Abstract
Objective To find dysregulated urinary microRNAs associated with endometrial cancer as a first step in finding a non-invasive new diagnostic biomarker. The second objective is to determine the correlation of urinary microRNAs with clinicopathological characteristics.
Methods A prospective cohort study of patients presenting with abnormal bleeding between March and November 2019 was performed at the Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust Truro. Urine samples were obtained from women diagnosed with endometrial cancer and benign endometrial sampling. MicroRNA was isolated and quantitative real time PCR was used to detect expression levels of microRNAs.
Results A total of 61 women were included in this study: 24 endometrial cancer patients, and 37 controls. Median age was 64 years (range 45–94) and median body mass index was 29 kg/m2 (range 17–54). MiR-223 was significantly up-regulated in urine of endometrial cancers patients (p=0.003). Furthermore, let7-i, miR-34a, and miR-200c were significantly down-regulated and miR-424 was up-regulated in obese women. In addition, miR-148a and miR-222 were significantly down-regulated in elderly women, and miR-16, miR-26b, and miR-200c were significantly deregulated in women with multiple comorbidities.
Conclusion MicroRNA expression levels in urine can potentially be used as a non-invasive diagnostic test for endometrial cancer. Furthermore, aberrant microRNA expression in urine is associated with patient characteristics. Further research in larger trials is needed to validate the potential utility of urinary microRNAs.
- uterine neoplasms
- uterine cancer
- endometrial neoplasms
Data availability statement
The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Data availability statement
The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Footnotes
Contributors HD aided the design of the study and was responsible for data collection, analysis of the data and wrote the manuscript with input from all authors. MH and DW contributed to the design of the study, performed experiments and analyzed and interpreted the miRNA data. MJ performed the experiments. TE contributed to the design of the study, analysis and interpretation of the miRNA data. RB and JP revised and contributed to segments of the manuscript. KG was responsible for the conception and design of the study, data analysis, and contributed to the writing and revision of the manuscript.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests None declared.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
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