Study of Clinical Utility of miRNA-31 in Diagnosis of Bladder Cancer in Egyptian Patients

Abstract Background Bladder cancer ranks as one of the most prevalent cancers worldwide, with a rising incidence and prevalence; also it is accompanied by a high morbidity and mortality. BC is a complex disease with several molecular and pathological pathways, thus reflecting different behaviors depending on the clinical staging of the tumor and molecular type. Objective To evaluate the clinical utility of miRNA-31 in plasma as an early novel diagnostic marker for patients with bladder cancer, in comparison to cystoscopy with histopathology as a conventionally used technique for cancer detection. Patients and Methods This study was performed on a total of 45 subjects selected from Urosurgery department at Theodor Bilharz Research Institute (TBRI) and Ain shams university hospitals in the period from January to October 2020. They were divided into the following groups: Group 1: 30 Bladder cancer (BCA) patients diagnosed by clinical examination, laboratory investigations (Urine cytology, urine analysis, complete blood count, liver & kidney functions) & cystoscopy with histopathology. Group 2: 15 apparently healthy volunteers matched in age and sex with the patients taken as the control group. Results It is found that miRNA 31 is abnormally expressed in cancer cells and play an important role in cancer development. It functions as an oncogene or a tumor suppressor in different cancer types which made it a candidate for our study. The present study revealed a statistical significance of miRNA-31 upregulation in plasma of late BC patients in comparison with early BC patients and control group, but there was no significance between its upregulation in the plasma of early BC patients in comparison with the control group. This shows that circulating miRNA-31 in plasma can be used as a prognostic biomarker for BC. Conclusion The present study revealed that the circulating miRNA-31 in plasma has no role as a diagnostic biomarker for BC.