Association of serum miR-375, miR-155 and miR-146b levels with distinguish of papillary thyroid cancer from benign thyroid masses among Iranian patients

Background and aim Certain serum levels of microRNAs (miRNAs) throughout the body can be helpful for cancer diagnosis and prognosis. The miRNAs can be secreted from the papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) into the circulatory system. Accordingly, this study aimed to measure the serum levels of miR-146b, miR-155 and miR-375 to evaluate their diagnostic potentials in distinguish of benign from malignant lesions. Materials and methods The serum levels of miRNAs were measured by real-time quantitative RT-PCR among100 patients with benign thyroid nodules and 30 patients with PTC. Results The mean miR-375 and miR-155 expression levels in the PTC group were greater when compared with the benign group. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was estimated at 0.81 for the miR-375 with 0.76% sensitivity and 0.80% specificity to distinguish between benign and PTC lesions. The AUC was calculated to be 0.75 for the miR-155 with 0.69% sensitivity and 0.90% specificity. Conclusion According to the results of this study, the serum levels of miR-155 and miR-375 were increased in the patients with PTC, which may be useful as alternative seromarkers for the PTC.