Detection and Identification of a miRNA Expression Profile from Cell-Free Urine: Potential Utility in Bladder Cancer (#1362): Micro ribonucleic acid (miRNA) molecules, previously shown to play a key role in tumorigenesis, can play a promising role in diagnosing and treating cancers. Researchers from the Lahey Clinic in Boston examined the role that miRNA might play in diagnosing bladder cancer. Using urine from patients with confirmed bladder cancer and control patients with no history of cancer, authors isolated cell-free RNA from 35 healthy control patients and 142 patients with bladder cancer, and profiled 730 miRNAs. Disease progression correlated with the number of miRNAs expressed, with healthy controls expressing 8 miRNAs and patients with >T2 carcinoma expressing 228 miRNAs. Individual samples revealed an increase with some miRNA as disease progressed, suggesting that miRNA profiling could be of future clinical value in the treatment of bladder cancer
