Expression of Circulating MicroRNA-141 in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

Background: Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is a lethal disease due to late diagnosis and lack of effective screening methods. MicroRNA (miR/miRNA) plays an important role in ovarian carcinogenesis and may serve as a non-invasive biomarker for EOC. This study aimed to assess miR-141 expression in the blood plasma of patients with EOC and healthy subjects and determine its association with the clinical stage of EOC.

Methods: This cross-sectional study used blood plasma from 30 newly diagnosed untreated patients with EOC and 25 healthy subjects. The mean age was 47.73 (SD = 10.29) years for EOC and 44.48 (SD = 16.14) years for healthy subject. The total RNA was isolated from blood plasma and reversed transcribed to obtain cDNA. The expression of miR-141 was measured by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), and calculated using 2^-ΔΔCt methods. The data were analysed using Mann-Whitney test.

Results: The expression of miR-141 was upregulated 8.41 fold in the blood plasma of EOC patients compared to healthy controls (P < 0.001). Expression of miR-141 in the advanced stage was upregulated 4.2 fold compared to the early stage (P < 0.001).

Conclusion: The miR-141 was upregulated in the blood plasma of EOC and associated with an advanced stage of disease, suggesting it has potential as a biomarker for EOC detection.