Repository logo
 

Development of a miRNA-based classifier for detection of colorectal cancer molecular subtypes.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Change log

Authors

Ferreira Moreno, Leandro 

Abstract

Previously, colorectal cancer (CRC) has been classified into four distinct molecular subtypes based on transcriptome data. These consensus molecular subtypes (CMSs) have implications for our understanding of tumor heterogeneity and the prognosis of patients. So far, this classification has been based on the use of messenger RNAs (mRNAs), although microRNAs (miRNAs) have also been shown to play a role in tumor heterogeneity and biological differences between CMSs. In contrast to mRNAs, miRNAs have a smaller size and increased stability, facilitating their detection. Therefore, we built a miRNA-based CMS classifier by converting the existing mRNA-based CMS classification using machine learning (training dataset of n = 271). The performance of this miRNA-assigned CMS classifier (CMS-miRaCl) was evaluated in several datasets, achieving an overall accuracy of ~ 0.72 (0.6329-0.7987) in the largest dataset (n = 158). To gain insight into the biological relevance of CMS-miRaCl, we evaluated the most important features in the classifier. We found that miRNAs previously reported to be relevant in microsatellite-instable CRCs or Wnt signaling were important features for CMS-miRaCl. Following further studies to validate its robustness, this miRNA-based alternative might simplify the implementation of CMS classification in clinical workflows.

Description

Funder: New York Stem Cell Foundation; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100003194

Keywords

colorectal cancer, consensus molecular subtypes, miRNA, microRNA, Biomarkers, Tumor, Colorectal Neoplasms, Gene Expression Profiling, Humans, MicroRNAs, Microsatellite Instability, RNA, Messenger, Transcriptome

Journal Title

Mol Oncol

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1574-7891
1878-0261

Volume Title

Publisher

Wiley
Sponsorship
Cancer Research UK (A19274)