MiR-146a levels show good prognostic, diagnostic value in ALL

The circulating levels of microRNA (miR)-146a is a potential noninvasive biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) in both paediatric and adult patients, a recent study has found.

The study included 66 ALL patients (mean age 18.17 years, 53 male) from whom a total of 110 plasma samples were collected for the isolation and analysis of miR-146a levels. Concentrations were compared against 24 healthy controls (mean age 20.708 years, 14 male) and correlated to clinicopathological factors.

Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction found that miR-146a was significantly elevated in ALL patients than controls (fold change, 33.45 vs 1.36; p<0.0001). In contrast, miR-146a expression did not differ according to age and sex.

Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was then performed to assess the utility of miR-146a as a plasma diagnostic marker for ALL. The resulting area under the curve for ALL was 1, with specificity and sensitivity estimates of 100 percent for both (p<0.0001).

MiR-146a also showed good prognostic value. Mean plasma levels dropped from 34.71 fold change before treatment to 0.9946±0.83 fold change after chemotherapy (p<0.0001). Such a decrease was detected in both men and women, and in both adults and paediatric patients.

“The noninvasive diagnosis and prognosis may overcome poor overall survival of patients with ALL and good treatment outcome,” the researchers said. “MiR-146a target prediction may also pave a way to understand the mechanisms in the regulation of gene expression establishing more effective targets for ALL therapy.”