Highly expressed circ_0000285 from serum and cervical exfoliated cells as a novel biomarker for the diagnosis of early stage-cervical cancer

Figures & data

Table 1. Comparison of baseline characteristics between CC patients (n = 152) and healthy volunteers (n = 116).

Characteristics	CC patients (n = 152)		Healthy volunteers (n = 116)	p values
Age (years)	63.50 ± 9.11		59.67 ± 10.68	0.142
Body mass index (kg/m^2)	24.81 ± 1.60		24.26 ± 2.03	0.780
Smoking (n, %)	27 (17.76)		24 (20.69)	0.545
Drinking (n, %)	31 (20.39)		20 (17.24)	0.515
CA125 (U/mL)	73.24 ± 41.29		16.02 ± 4.75	<0.001
SCC-Ag (μg/L)	5.45 ± 3.04		1.30 ± 0.56	0.004
HPV positive rate (n, %)	94 (61.84)		35 (30.17)	<0.001

CC: cervical cancer, CA125: carbohydrate antigen 125, SCC-Ag: squamous cell carcinoma antigen, HPV: human papillomavirus.

Figure 1. The circ_0000285 is highly expressed in serum and cervical exfoliated cells of CC patients. (A, B) qRT-PCR analysis of the expression levels of circ_0000285 in serum and cervical exfoliated cells of healthy volunteers (n = 116) and 152 CC patients (2^−ΔΔCt method). (C, D) Analysis of the expression levels of circ_0000285 in serum and cervical exfoliated cells of ESCC patients (n = 65) and LACC patients (n = 87) using qRT-PCR. (E) The expression levels of circ_0000285 were significantly higher in the SiHa, CaSki and HeLa cells compared to the normal cervical epithelial cell line H8. (F) The expression levels of circ_0000285 and HIPK3 mRNA were analysed in SiHa cells after treatment with RNase R. CC: cervical cancer; qRT-PCR: quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction; ESCC: early-stage CC; LACC: locally advanced CC; HIPK3: homeodomain interacting protein kinase 3; RNase R: Ribonuclease R; SD: standard deviation. Data were presented as mean ± SD, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ^nsp > 0.05.

Table 2. Correlations between the expression levels of circ_0000285 in serum and cervical exfoliated cells and clinical characteristics of CC patients.

Characteristics	Serum		Cervical exfoliated cells
	Coefficient (95% CI)	p values	Coefficient (95% CI)	p values
Age	−0.012 (−0.981−0.874)	0.957	0.107 (−0.555−0.396)	0.311
Body mass index	−0.178 (−0.324−0.031)	0.145	0.223 (−0.881−0.042)	0.068
Smoking	0.063 (−0.207−0.524)	0.683	−0.075 (−0.460−0.229)	0.659
Drinking	−0.239 (−0.492−0.003)	0.062	−0.158 (−0.675−0.194)	0.297
CA125	0.115 (−0.459−0.376)	0.286	0.046 (−0.254−0.407)	0.773
SCC-Ag	0.671 (0.055−0.348)	<0.001	0.733 (0.202−0.664)	<0.001
HPV positive rate	0.503 (0.021−0.853)	0.002	0.371 (0.028−0.420)	0.026

CI: confidence interval.

Figure 2. The expression of circ_0000285 is downregulated in serum from CC patients after surgery. (A) qRT-PCR analysis of circ_0000285 expression in serum from CC patients preoperative and 90 days after surgery. (B) Decreased serum circ_0000285 expression was observed in CC patients after surgery. (C) The CC patients after surgery with high serum circ_0000285 expression was more prone to have a tumour relapse. Data were presented as mean ± SD, *P < 0.05, ***P < 0.001.

Figure 3. ROC curves analysis of the combination of circ_0000285 in serum and cervical exfoliated cells for discriminating CC patients from healthy volunteers. (A) circ_0000285, (B) CA125, (C) SCC-Ag, and (D) the combination of circ_0000285, CA125, SCC-Ag, and HPV. ROC: receiver operating characteristic; CA125: carbohydrate antigen 125; SCC-Ag: squamous cell carcinoma antigen; HPV: human papillomavirus.