Diagnostic role of microRNA-125b for hepatocellular carcinoma

It is estimated that there was 841 0 0 0 new cases of liver cancer and 782 0 0 0 associated deaths worldwide in 2018,ranking as the sixth most common cancer and the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths[1].With approximately 90%of total cases,hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)is the most frequent type of primary liver cancer,and is a major public global health challenge at present[1].The majority of HCC patients are usually at advanced stages when diagnosed,which misses the optimal treatment and prognosis is poor.Alpha-fetoprotein(AFP)is the most widely applied diagnostic serum biomarker to detect HCC at present;however,the diagnostic accuracy of AFP is unsatisfactory,with sensitivity of 53%and specificity of 90%for early stage HCC[2].Recently,plenty of studies reported that microRNA-125b(miR-125b)might function as potential diagnostic biomarker in HCC[3–8].miR-125 family,consisting of miR-125a,miR-125b-1,and miR-125b-2,is closely associated with differentiation,proliferation,invasion,and metastasis of cancer cells.However,the diagnostic accuracy of miR-125b remains inconsistent.