Stopped: The project did not progress as there were no findings available for the lab analysis of microRNA expression.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most frequent primary tumour of the liver and is the third cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Depending on the stage of the disease, the treatment options are surgery, liver transplantation, chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Recently, scientific research has focused on small molecules called microRNAs which are produced by human cells and can be released in the blood. They have a role in cell proliferation and are found to be dysregulated in different types of cancer. It has been shown that microRNAs have a role in the development of HCC but it is unknown if these molecules can be used as markers for diagnosis and survival in HCC. In particular, microRNAs miR-221 and miR-222 are dysregulated in the tumoral tissues in about 80% of patients with HCC. This can be assessed on tissues from liver biopsies or surgical specimens, both invasive approaches. Only few studies showed the presence of microRNAs in the blood of patients with HCC but it is unknown if there is a correlation between tumoral tissue expression and circulating levels. The aim of this study is to evaluate if these two microRNAs are expressed not only in the tumoral tissues but also in the blood from cancer patients, and in different amounts compared to circulating levels in healthy individuals. A correlation between tumoral tissue and blood levels will also be evaluated. Should this evaluation show a strong correlation and reliability of circulating microRNAs in the diagnosis and follow up of HCC, future clinical trials targeting these microRNAs and their related pathways might benefit from this being adopted as conventional practice instead of the need of assessing tissue levels from liver biopsies. The results of this pilot study will bring preliminary results as a first step for future analysis on a larger cohort of patients.
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presence of miR-221 and mR-222 in the blood
Timeframe: 6 months