Abstract
BACKGROUND: Over the past decade, multiple research studies have focused on using miRNA expression in colorectal cancer (CRC) pathogenesis. MATERIALS & METHODS: 150 cases of two phases, where 14 miRNAs were first estimated in 75 cases for screening, followed by measuring miR-203a-3p, miR-7-5p, and miR-15b-5p relative expression in 75 subjects for further validation. Insilico analyses were done for confirmation. RESULTS: miR-203a-3p and miR-15b-5p were significantly downregulated, whereas miR-7-5p was highly expressed in CRC patients. Significantly elevated diagnostic efficacy for CRC was observed for miR-203a-3p, miR-7-5p, and miR-15b-5p (p < 0.001). Serum expression levels of these miRNAs are positively correlated with their matched tissue expression levels (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Diagnostic biomarker potential was identified for miR-203a-3p, miR-7-5p, and miR-15b-5p in CRC.