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Clinical Significance of Hepatic and Circulating microRNAs miR-221 and miR-222 in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

NCT02928627 · Status: TERMINATED · Type: OBSERVATIONAL · Enrollment: 10

Last updated 2026-05-11

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most frequent primary tumour of the liver and is the third cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Depending on the stage of the disease, the treatment options are surgery, liver transplantation, chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

Recently, scientific research has focused on small molecules called microRNAs which are produced by human cells and can be released in the blood. They have a role in cell proliferation and are found to be dysregulated in different types of cancer.

It has been shown that microRNAs have a role in the development of HCC but it is unknown if these molecules can be used as markers for diagnosis and survival in HCC.

In particular, microRNAs miR-221 and miR-222 are dysregulated in the tumoral tissues in about 80% of patients with HCC. This can be assessed on tissues from liver biopsies or surgical specimens, both invasive approaches. Only few studies showed the presence of microRNAs in the blood of patients with HCC but it is unknown if there is a correlation between tumoral tissue expression and circulating levels.

The aim of this study is to evaluate if these two microRNAs are expressed not only in the tumoral tissues but also in the blood from cancer patients, and in different amounts compared to circulating levels in healthy individuals. A correlation between tumoral tissue and blood levels will also be evaluated.

Should this evaluation show a strong correlation and reliability of circulating microRNAs in the diagnosis and follow up of HCC, future clinical trials targeting these microRNAs and their related pathways might benefit from this being adopted as conventional practice instead of the need of assessing tissue levels from liver biopsies.

The results of this pilot study will bring preliminary results as a first step for future analysis on a larger cohort of patients.

Conditions

Interventions

OTHER

Analysis of microRNA expression

sample analysis

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Robert Gordon University

    collaborator OTHER

  • University of Aberdeen

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Fiammetta Soggiu, MD · NHS Grampian

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
80 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2017-06-01
Primary Completion
2018-01-24
Completion
2018-01-24

Countries

  • United Kingdom

Study Locations

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Entities

Diseases

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT02928627 on ClinicalTrials.gov