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The Impact of Pre-analytical Factors on the Reliability of miRNA Measurements

  • Biospecimens Science and Evidence-Based Standards for Precision Medicine (F Betsou, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Pathobiology Reports

Abstract

Purpose of Review

In this review, we highlight the importance of using standardized procedures and protocols for circulating miRNA isolation, detection, and quantification, in order to establish their role as non-invasive biomarkers in the clinical setting.

Recent Findings

Specific miRNAs have already been investigated as promising prognostic and diagnostic markers in various types of cancer. Circulating microRNAs detected in plasma are continuously and intensively explored as non-invasive prognostic and diagnostic markers in a variety of human diseases and mainly in cancer. These miRNAs are remarkably stable in biological fluids and their expression profiles have been shown to represent a compelling non-invasive biomarker for cancer diagnosis.

Summary

Circulating miRNAs are remarkably stable, even in the extracellular environment with high RNAse activity. However, circulating miRNA quantitative measurements could be significantly influenced by several external and intra-individual factors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Analysis of Circulating Tumor Cells (ACTC) Lab, Laboratory Analytical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Athens, 15771, Athens, Greece

    Athina N. Markou & E. S. Lianidou

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  1. Athina N. Markou
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  2. E. S. Lianidou
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Correspondence to E. S. Lianidou.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Biospecimens Science and Evidence-Based Standards for Precision Medicine

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Markou, A.N., Lianidou, E.S. The Impact of Pre-analytical Factors on the Reliability of miRNA Measurements. Curr Pathobiol Rep 7, 29–33 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40139-019-00191-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40139-019-00191-9

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