The serum levels of miR-16-5p, miR-197-5p, miR-451a, and miR-92a-3p were associated with ESCC; the biomarker based on the panel of these four miRNAs could efficiently distinguish patients with ESCC from the controls [AUC = 0.856; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.794-0.905; <i>P</i> < 0.001].
These findings suggest that miR-451 might be a novel prognostic biomarker and a potential target for the treatment of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in the future.
Additionally, we also found that altered miR-429 and miR-451 expression levels were associated with the occurrence of lymph node metastases and the differentiation status and TNM stage in ESCC.