Diagnostic and Prognostic Implications of a Serum miRNA Panel in Oesophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) are potential biomarkers for cancer detection; however, little is known about their prognostic impact on oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). The current study aims to uncover novel miRNAs for prognostic biomarkers in ESCC patients.We initially screened the expression of 754 serum miRNAs using TaqMan Low Density Array in two pooled samples respectively from 28 ESCC and 28 normal controls. Markedly upregulated miRNAs in ESCC and some miRNAs reported to be differently expressed in ESCC tissue were then validated individually by RT-qPCR in another 83 patients and 83 controls arranged in two phases. The changes of the selected miRNAs during the esophagectomy and their prognostic value were examined. = 0.024, respectively).The seven serum miRNAs could potentially serve as novel biomarkers for ESCC; moreover, specific miRNAs such as miR-25 and miR-100 can predict poor survival in ESCC