Identification of a serum three-microRNA signature for cervical cancer diagnosis

To the Editor:Cervical cancer(CC)is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths in women around the world.[1]In clinical practice,screening methods such as human papillomavirus testing and cytology-based detection have the disadvantages of having a high false rate,being hysteretic or ineffective.[2]Novel non-invasive biomarkers that can help diagnose CC with higher specificity and sensitivity are in great demand.MicroRNA(miRNA)is a type of non-coding small RNA of 18 to 25 nucleotides in length.Circulating miRNAs show the great potential of being cancer biomarkers for the stable existence in peripheral serum or plasma.[3]In this study,we performed a four-stage experiment using a total of 108 CC and 108 normal control(NC)serum samples to explore the diagnostic potential of serum miRNAs in CC.The schematic diagram of the experimental procedure was shown in Supplementary Figure 1,http://links.lww.com/CM9/A429.