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Sequeira JP, Lobo J, Constâncio V, Brito-Rocha T, Carvalho-Maia C, Braga I, Maurício J, Henrique R, Jerónimo C. DigiMir Test: Establishing a Novel Pipeline for MiR-371a Quantification Using Droplet Digital PCR in Liquid Biopsies From Testicular Germ Cell Tumor Patients. Front Oncol 2022; 12:876732. [PMID: 35756620 PMCID: PMC9226402 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.876732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2022] [Accepted: 05/03/2022] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs) are the most common cancers in young-adult male patients aged between 15 and 39 years. Hsa-miR-371a-3p is currently the most reliable biomarker for diagnosis and monitoring of these patients non-invasively in liquid biopsies, and it is destined to be introduced in the clinic due to improved performance compared to the classical serum tumor markers available. Current studies have focused on real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) protocols for its determination; still, some challenges remain, since these protocols often require preamplification steps (costly and time-consuming), and report relative levels normalized to a housekeeping microRNA, not always performed the same way. Droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) shows the promise to overcome these challenges, skipping normalization and preamplifications, but has hardly been explored in the field of TGCTs. In this work, we provide a report of a ddPCR-based pipeline for the quantification of hsa-miR-371a-3p (the DigiMir pipeline) and compare it with two RT-qPCR protocols. A total of 107 plasma samples were investigated in the validation setting. The DigiMir pipeline detected TGCTs in a manner representative of tumor burden, with a sensitivity and specificity of 94% and 100%, respectively, outperforming the combined sensitivity of all three classical serum tumor markers (61.5%). Therefore, in this proof-of-concept investigation, we have shown that the DigiMir pipeline constitutes a new promising methodology to accurately report hsa-miR-371a-3p in the clinical setting.
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Affiliation(s)
- José Pedro Sequeira
- Cancer Biology and Epigenetics Group, Research Center of IPO Porto (CI-IPOP)/RISE@CI-IPOP (Health Research Network), Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (IPO Porto)/Porto Comprehensive Cancer Centre (Porto.CCC), Porto, Portugal.,Master in Oncology, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto (ICBAS-UP), Porto, Portugal
| | - João Lobo
- Cancer Biology and Epigenetics Group, Research Center of IPO Porto (CI-IPOP)/RISE@CI-IPOP (Health Research Network), Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (IPO Porto)/Porto Comprehensive Cancer Centre (Porto.CCC), Porto, Portugal.,Department of Pathology, Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (IPOP), Porto, Portugal.,Department of Pathology and Molecular Immunology, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto (ICBAS-UP), Porto, Portugal
| | - Vera Constâncio
- Cancer Biology and Epigenetics Group, Research Center of IPO Porto (CI-IPOP)/RISE@CI-IPOP (Health Research Network), Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (IPO Porto)/Porto Comprehensive Cancer Centre (Porto.CCC), Porto, Portugal.,Doctoral Programme in Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto (ICBAS-UP), Porto, Portugal
| | - Tiago Brito-Rocha
- Cancer Biology and Epigenetics Group, Research Center of IPO Porto (CI-IPOP)/RISE@CI-IPOP (Health Research Network), Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (IPO Porto)/Porto Comprehensive Cancer Centre (Porto.CCC), Porto, Portugal.,Master in Oncology, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto (ICBAS-UP), Porto, Portugal
| | - Carina Carvalho-Maia
- Cancer Biology and Epigenetics Group, Research Center of IPO Porto (CI-IPOP)/RISE@CI-IPOP (Health Research Network), Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (IPO Porto)/Porto Comprehensive Cancer Centre (Porto.CCC), Porto, Portugal
| | - Isaac Braga
- Cancer Biology and Epigenetics Group, Research Center of IPO Porto (CI-IPOP)/RISE@CI-IPOP (Health Research Network), Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (IPO Porto)/Porto Comprehensive Cancer Centre (Porto.CCC), Porto, Portugal.,Department of Urology and Urology Clinics, Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (IPOP), Porto, Portugal
| | - Joaquina Maurício
- Department of Medical Oncology and Urology Clinics, Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (IPOP), Porto, Portugal
| | - Rui Henrique
- Cancer Biology and Epigenetics Group, Research Center of IPO Porto (CI-IPOP)/RISE@CI-IPOP (Health Research Network), Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (IPO Porto)/Porto Comprehensive Cancer Centre (Porto.CCC), Porto, Portugal.,Department of Pathology, Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (IPOP), Porto, Portugal.,Department of Pathology and Molecular Immunology, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto (ICBAS-UP), Porto, Portugal
| | - Carmen Jerónimo
- Cancer Biology and Epigenetics Group, Research Center of IPO Porto (CI-IPOP)/RISE@CI-IPOP (Health Research Network), Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (IPO Porto)/Porto Comprehensive Cancer Centre (Porto.CCC), Porto, Portugal.,Department of Pathology and Molecular Immunology, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto (ICBAS-UP), Porto, Portugal
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