Exosomal MicroRNA signature acts as an efficient biomarker for non-invasive diagnosis of gallbladder carcinoma

Through a three-step study that relies on biomarker discovery, training, and validation, we identified a set of five exosomal microRNAs (miRNAs) that can be used to evaluate the risk of gallbladder carcinoma (GBC), including miR-552-3p, miR-581, miR-4433a-3p, miR-496, and miR-203b-3p. When validated in 102 GBC patients and 112 chronic cholecystitis patients from multiple medical centers, the AUC of this combinatorial biomarker was 0.905, with a sensitivity of 81.37% and a specificity of 86.61%. The performance of this biomarker is superior to that of the standard biomarkers CA199 and CEA and is suited for GBC early diagnosis. The multi-clinicopathological features and prognosis of GBC patients were significantly associated with this biomarker. After building a miRNA-target gene regulation network, cell functions and signaling pathways regulated by these five miRNAs were examined. This biomarker signature can be used in the development of a noninvasive tool for GBC diagnosis, screening and prognosis prediction. [Display omitted] •A five exosomal miRNAs-set is identified to diagnose GBC through a three-step study•The efficacy of this noninvasive biomarker is superior to that of conventional ones•This biomarker is correlated with multiple GBC clinical features and the prognosis•The functions and signal pathways that this biomarker may affect were estimated Health sciences; Cancer systems biology; Cancer