Biomarkers Predict Progression to Adenocarcinoma

A series of micro ribonucleic acid (miRNA) expression signatures may help to define progression of the precancerous condition Barrett's esophagus into esophageal adenocarcinoma.

To reduce the mortality of esophageal adenocarcinoma, the best hope in the near term is to detect it at its early stage, or even better, to prevent the progression of esophageal adenocarcinoma from its premalignant lesion, which is called Barrett's esophagus.

Scientist at the M.D.Anderson Cancer Center (Houston, TX, USA) extracted RNA from total of 105 snap frozen tissues, including 35 normal, 34 Barrett’s esophagus, and 36 esophageal adenocarcinoma. They used the real-time PCR-based TaqMan Human Micro-RNA Card Set (Applied Biosystems; Carlsbad, CA, USA) that enables accurate quantitation of 754 human miRNAs. They compared hundreds of miRNAs in normal esophageal epithelia and in Barrett's esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma tissues of different histological grades with distinct progression risks.

The investigators identified a number of differentially expressed miRNAs at each histological stage. They also identified a small number of miRNAs that were significantly different between Barrett's esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma. Specifically, downregulation of the miRNA miR-375 and upregulation of five miRNAs of the miR-17-92 and homologue family seemed to differentiate Barrett's esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma.

The patients with Barrett's esophagus with low levels of miR-375 and/or high levels of the other five miRNAs that were found to be upregulated in esophageal adenocarcinoma, are at increased risk for malignant progression and should be under intensive surveillance, screening and treatment of their Barrett's esophagus.

Xifeng Wu, MD, the senior author of the study, said, "Defining the protein-coding genes targeted by the differentially expressed microRNAs we identified may provide significant biological insights into the development of esophageal adenocarcinoma. Moreover, these genes may themselves become promising biomarkers to predict Barrett's esophagus progression as well as potential preventive and therapeutic targets." The study was published on March 5, 2013, in the journal Cancer Prevention Research.

Related Links:
M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
Applied Biosystems