Screening differential circular RNA expression profiles reveal that hsa_circ_0128298 is a biomarker in the diagnosis and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Jiamao Lin
Dawei Chen
Haiyong Wang
Xinyu Song
Chenyue Zhang
Journal: Cancer Management and Research (2018)
Discipline: CLINICAL MEDICINE
Keywords: biomarker; circular RNA; diagnosis; hepatocellular carcinoma; hsa_circ_0128298
Affiliations: Department of Radiation Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University., School of Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Jinan-Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan., Department of Integrative Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai., Department of Internal Medicine-Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, People's Republic of China.

Abstract:  Aim: The aim of this study was to analyze the diagnostic and prognostic values of the circular RNA (circRNA) hsa_circ_0128298 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Patients and methods: The global circRNA expression was measured using circRNA microarray using three pairs of cancer and noncancerous tissues from HCC patients. The microarray analysis revealed that two circRNAs were differentially expressed in the three pairs of cancerous and noncancerous tissues. The higher levels of two representative circRNAs, such as hsa_circ_0128298 and hsa_circ_0091582, were further confirmed by real-time polymerase chain reaction. In addition, the association between the expression level of hsa_circ_0128298 and the clinicopathological features of patients with HCC was further analyzed. The clinical diagnosis value was confirmed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Independent prognostic factors of patient outcome were identified using the Cox regression model. The survival data were analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier method, and the differences were evaluated using log-rank tests. Two-sided P-values &lt;0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: The expression levels of hsa_circ_0128298 in HCC were significantly higher than those of paratumorous tissues (P&lt;0.001). Additionally, hsa_circ_0128298 was a diagnostic factor, with the area under the ROC curve of 0.668 (95% CI =0.503-0.794, P&lt;0.001). The sensitivity and specificity values were 0.716 and 0.815, respectively. The AFP and hsa_circ_0128298 expression levels were independent prognostic factors. The overall survival of patients with low hsa_circ_0128298 expression was significantly higher than that of patients with high hsa_circ_0128298 expression. Conclusion: hsa_circ_0128298 may promote proliferation and metastasis and potentially represents a novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for HCC patients. However, studies with larger sample size are needed to confirm our conclusion. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 According to the context, ![file] qRT-PCR was used to detect hsa_circ_0091582 expression levels in liver tissues from HCC patients. In the initial verification process with 30 pairs of HCC and paratumor tissues, the expression of hsa_circ_0091582 was presented in Figure 3A. And in the extended verification process with 78 pairs of samples,the expression of hsa_circ_0091582 was presented in Figure S1A. ![file] Notice the y-axis ticks of Figure 3A and Figure S1A, which indicates dozens of folds differences in qRT-PCR qualification of hsa_circ_0091582. ![file] Could the authors provide an explanation ? ,