Multiplex Analysis of CircRNAs from Plasma Extracellular Vesicle-Enriched Samples for the Detection of Early-Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Carlos Pedraz-Valdunciel, Stavros Giannoukakos, Ana Giménez-Capitán, Diogo Fortunato, Martyna Filipska, Jordi Bertran-Alamillo, Jillian W.P. Bracht, Ana Drozdowskyj, Joselyn Valarezo, Natasa Zarovni, Alberto Fernández-Hilario, Michael Hackenberg, Andrés Aguilar-Hernández, Miguel Ángel Molina-Vila, Rafael Rosell

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6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background: The analysis of liquid biopsies brings new opportunities in the precision oncology field. Under this context, extracellular vesicle circular RNAs (EV-circRNAs) have gained interest as biomarkers for lung cancer (LC) detection. However, standardized and robust protocols need to be developed to boost their potential in the clinical setting. Although nCounter has been used for the analysis of other liquid biopsy substrates and biomarkers, it has never been employed for EV-circRNA analysis of LC patients. Methods: EVs were isolated from early-stage LC patients (n = 36) and controls (n = 30). Different volumes of plasma, together with different number of pre-amplification cycles, were tested to reach the best nCounter outcome. Differential expression analysis of circRNAs was performed, along with the testing of different machine learning (ML) methods for the development of a prognostic signature for LC. Results: A combination of 500 μL of plasma input with 10 cycles of pre-amplification was selected for the rest of the study. Eight circRNAs were found upregulated in LC. Further ML analysis selected a 10-circRNA signature able to discriminate LC from controls with AUC ROC of 0.86. Conclusions: This study validates the use of the nCounter platform for multiplexed EV-circRNA expression studies in LC patient samples, allowing the development of prognostic signatures.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2034
JournalPharmaceutics
Volume14
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2022

Keywords

  • NSCLC
  • circRNAs
  • extracellular vesicles
  • liquid biopsies
  • lung cancer
  • nCounter

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