Abstract:

Objective To investigate changes of serum levels of circulating RNA plasmacytoma variant translocation 1 (circPVT1) and microRNA-486-5p (miR-486-5p) before and after radiotherapy in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and their evaluation value for radiotherapy efficacy. Methods A total of 137 patients with advanced NSCLC were selected as the NSCLC group, and 140 health examination personnel in our hospital were selected as the control group. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) was applied to detect serum expression levels of circPVT1 and miR-486-5p. Serum levels of circPVT1 and miR-486-5p before and after radiotherapy were compared. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was applied to analyze the diagnostic value of serum circPVT1 and miR-486-5p levels for radiotherapy efficacy. Results Compared with the control group, the serum expression level of circPVT1 was obviously higher before radiotherapy in the NSCLC group, and the expression level of miR-486-5p was obviously lower (P<0.05). According to Targetscan online analysis, circPVT1 had a targeted relationship with miR-486-5p. There were no significant differences in serum expression levels of circPVT1 and miR-486-5p before radiotherapy between patients with squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma NSCLC (P>0.05). Compared with TNM stage Ⅲ group, the serum expression level of circPVT1 was obviously higher in patients with stage IV NSCLC, and serum expression level of miR-486-5p was obviously lower (P<0.05). The serum expression level of circPVT1 was obviously lower in patients after radiotherapy than that before radiotherapy, and the expression level of miR-486-5p was obviously higher (P<0.05). Compared with the effective radiotherapy group, the serum expression level of circPVT1 was increased and the expression level of miR-486-5p was decreased before and after radiotherapy in the ineffective group (P<0.05). Compared with before radiotherapy, both the effective and ineffective radiotherapy groups showed a decreased serum circPVT1 level and an increased miR-486-5p level after radiotherapy (P<0.05). The AUC (95%CI: 0.859-0.958) of combined diagnosis of serum circPVT1 and miR-486-5p was 0.918, the sensitivity was 80.65% and the specificity was 88.00%. The combined diagnosis was better than single diagnosis (Z=2.06, 2.024, P<0.05). Conclusion Serum levels of circPVT1 and miR-486-5p have certain value in evaluating the efficacy of radiotherapy for advanced NSCLC.

Key words: carcinoma, non-small-cell lung, RNA, circular, chemoradiotherapy, cyclic RNA plasmacytoma variant translocation 1, micro RNA-486-5p