RESUMO
BACKGROUND: A number of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients have developed resistance against transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) treatment. In this study, we aimed to develop a panel of microRNAs (miRs) biomarkers to predict clinical outcomes in HCC patients after TACE treatment. METHODS: The expression level of twenty miRs was evaluated in FFPE tissues collected from 33 HCC patients. We selected four differentially expressed miRs in TACE-responders versus non-responders and re-assessed their expression in 51 serum samples. The expressions of miRs associated with overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and treatment outcomes were investigated. The diagnostic accuracy of these miRs in predicting patients' response to TACE was also evaluated. RESULTS: The baseline of miR-106b, miR-107 and miR-133b was significantly elevated (pâ¯<â¯.001) in sera of TACE-responders while miR-26a was elevated (pâ¯<â¯.001) in non-responders. miR-26a and miR-133b recorded the highest diagnostic performance as individual classifiers in response to TACE (AUCâ¯=â¯1.0 and 100% sensitivity and specificity). Intriguingly, miR-133b distinguished complete responders from partial responders and non-responders (AUCâ¯≥â¯0.90). The PFS was improved (pâ¯<â¯.05) in the high expression group of miR-31, miR-200b, miR-133b and miR-181a over their low expression group. CONCLUSION: Circulating miR-133b, miR-26a, miR-107 and miR-106 in serum are potential candidates to be utilized as prognostic biomarkers for predication of TACE treatment outcomes in HCC patients.