The study of circulating miRNAs as molecular markers in the diagnosis and prognosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Problem to be solved: 1) Search for pathogenic SNPs of miR-196 and miR-146 genes, and explore their association with the occurrence and prognosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Using changes in the expression of circulating miR-196a and miR-146 in plasma, potential tumor markers related to the occurrence and prognosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma were screened. 2) Clarify the molecular mechanism by which the pathogenic SNPs of miR-196 and miR-146 genes regulate miR expression levels. The planned goal is to 1) analyze the relationship between multiple candidate SNPs of the miR-196a gene and miR-146a gene with genetic susceptibility and prognosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and analyze the expression of miR in different genotypes. 2) Pre experiments have known that the miR-196a gene and miR-146a gene are abnormally expressed in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tissue, Further large-scale testing of its expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tissue and adjacent normal tissues. 3) Analyzing the expression differences of circulating miR-196a and miR-146a in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients and healthy control samples, searching for molecular markers for early diagnosis of esophageal cancer. 4) Analyzing the correlation and differences in the expression of miR-196a and miR-146a in plasma and tissues, To determine whether circulating miR can represent the expression level of miR in tissue samples. 5) Analyze the relationship between the expression of circulating miR-196a and miR-146a and the prognosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and search for molecular markers for the prognosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Early detection of esophageal cancer is the key to prolonging patient survival time and improving quality of life. Early detection of esophageal cancer is the key to prolonging patient survival time and improving quality of life. However, the pathogenesis of esophageal cancer is currently unclear, and patients tend to be in advanced stages when seeking medical treatment. In recent years, research has shown that multiple specific miRNAs are abnormally expressed in esophageal cancer, but due to difficulties in tissue specimen collection, it is difficult to use for early diagnosis and detection. Circulating miRNAs that appear in cellless body fluids such as serum and plasma have the characteristics of stable expression in serum or plasma, minimal (or non-invasive) sampling trauma, and can be used as molecular markers for early screening or diagnosis of tumors, to assist in confirming the reliability of early diagnosis. Our previous research found that the rs11614913 and rs35010275 polymorphisms of the miR-196a-2 gene are associated with the risk of ESCC in the ≤ 60 year old age group. The miR-196a and miR-146a genes are upregulated in esophageal cancer tissue. This study aims to (1) further analyze the relationship between candidate SNPs and genetic susceptibility and prognosis of esophageal cancer (2) further detect the expression of miR-196a and miR-146a in large sample esophageal cancer tissue samples (3) detect the levels of circulating miR-196a and miR-146a in the plasma of esophageal cancer patients, and analyze their consistency with tissue expression (4) collect survival and prognosis data of esophageal cancer patients, and analyze the relationship between the expression of circulating miR-196a and miR-146a and the prognosis of esophageal cancer, To provide theoretical and experimental basis for searching for sensitive and specific molecular markers.