miRNA Biomarkers for Breast Cancer Diagnostics

The dysregulation of miRNA expression is often associated with tumorigenesis, making them valuable tools in the early detection and management of breast cancer. Alfa Cytology is dedicated to advancing the use of miRNA biomarkers in breast cancer diagnostics, offering a comprehensive range of services that encompass biomarker discovery and validation.

Introduction to miRNA Biomarkers

microRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs of 19-25bp that bind to the 3' or 5' untranslated regions (UTRs) of their targets to mediate post-transcriptional gene silencing. miRNAs can regulate oncogenic or tumor suppressor pathways, and their expression can be regulated by oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes, which may be because more than 50% of miRNA genes are located in chromosomal regions containing vulnerable sites, chromosomal deletions, and amplifications. These regions are commonly mutated in human cancers. Therefore, miRNAs can serve as reliable biomarkers for early detection, prognosis, monitoring of treatment response, and identification of drug resistance mechanisms in breast cancer (BC).

Fig.1 Schematic representation of the use of circulating miRNAs as diagnostic/prognostic biomarkers for neoadjuvant therapy in breast cancer. (Ruiz-Manriquez LM, et al., 2023)

At present, a variety of miRNA have been identified as biomarkers for noninvasive diagnosis of BC, such as miRNA-101 and miRNA-372 can be used as specific markers for BC, and exosomal miRNA-373 can be used as a diagnostic marker for TNBC. miRNA-195 can be specifically expressed in BC patients. miRNA-29b-2, miRNA-155, miRNA-197, miRNA-205, miRNA-1246, miRNA-1307-3p, miRNA-4634, miRNA-6861-5p, and miRNA-6875-5p, etc. in serum can also be used for diagnosis BC.

Our Services

Alfa Cytology can provide you with miRNA as a BC diagnostic biomarkers development service. miRNA participates in multiple cellular pathways and plays an important role in the occurrence, development, invasion, metastasis, and drug resistance of BC, and its expression level also changes in BC. This suggests that miRNA not only contributes to the early diagnosis of BC patients, but also monitors the recurrence, metastasis, and prognosis of BC patients, and may even become a target for early intervention and treatment of BC. Exploring miRNAs as biomarkers is a promising strategy in liquid biopsy-based BC diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring. We have a comprehensive miRNA evaluation technology, such as Northern hybridization, next-generation sequencing (NGS), miRNA microarray, in situ hybridization, droplet digital PCR (ddPCR), and reverse transcription-quantitative PCR(RT-qPCR) to detect and identify miRNAs in various body fluids.

• Development of blood miRNAs as biomarkers for BC diagnosis
• Development of urinary miRNAs as biomarkers for BC diagnosis
• Development of salivary miRNAs as biomarkers for BC diagnosis
• Development of human milk miRNAs as biomarkers for BC diagnosis
• Development of fecal miRNAs as biomarkers for BC diagnosis

Advantages of Our Services

Alfa Cytology is a leading global CRO company dedicated to assisting our clients in the discovery and validation of miRNAs. Changes in the expression of specific miRNAs have been shown to represent pathological diseases. Due to their tunable stability in human blood, they are very promising biomarkers in the diagnosis of BC. If you are interested in learning more about our BC diagnostic development services, please feel free to contact us. Our professional and patient staff will get in touch with you as soon as possible.