Conclusion
miR-10b is a novel diagnostic biomarker for PDACs when assessing pancreatic lesions. Expression of miR-10b is predictive of response to neoadjuvant therapy and outcome in this disease.
Results
In 10 resected PDAC samples, miR-10b was the most frequently and consistently overexpressed miRNA among characterized miRNAs, exhibiting a four-fold increase in the cancer cells (P = 0.012). Given this preferential overexpression of miR-10b, we sought to determine whether miR-10b expression was clinically relevant. Accordingly, miR-10b expression was examined in 106 EUS-FNA samples obtained from pancreatic lesions. miR-10b expression was increased in cancer cells compared with CK19-positive epithelial cells in benign lesions (P = 0.0001). In patients with PDACs, lower levels of miR-10b were associated with improved response to multimodality neoadjuvant therapy, likelihood of surgical resection, delayed time to metastasis, and increased survival.