Abstract

Circulating EV-miRNAs For a Novel Diagnosis and Early Detection of Cancer

Takahiro Ochiya, Professor, Tokyo Medical University

Currently, it was discovered that extracellular miRNAs circulate in the blood of both healthy and diseased patients. Most of the circulating miRNAs are included in protein, lipid or lipoprotein complexes, such as RNA-binding proteins, apoptotic bodies, extracellular vesicles (EVs) named as exosomes, and are, therefore, highly stable. The existence of circulating miRNAs and exosomes in the blood of cancer patients has raised the possibility that disease-specific miRNAs and exosomes may serve as a novel diagnostic marker for early detection of cancer and monitoring for cancer development. Here we present our current progress on our project for miRNA-based novel cancer diagnosis in Japan.