Development of a miRNA Diagnostic Panel Using AI and Analysis of Interfluidic Transfer in Body Fluids of Patients with Pancreatic Cancer

2024 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K16436
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 55020:Digestive surgery-related
• Research Institution: Chiba Cancer Center (Research Institute)
• Principal Investigator: Ishige Fumitaka 千葉県がんセンター(研究所), 肝胆膵外科, 医長 (60815801)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-04-01 – 2025-03-31
• Keywords: 膵癌 / マイクロRNA / 次世代シーケンサー / バイオマーカー / 診断ツール

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we attempted a comprehensive analysis of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the blood, urine, and saliva of patients with pancreatic cancer. We found that small RNAs in urine and saliva were not suitable for next-generation sequencing (NGS) due to low yield and poor reproducibility. On the other hand, using NGS, we successfully identified multiple miRNAs in plasma that were specific to pancreatic cancer and reflected disease progression. These miRNAs are expected to be useful for diagnosis, staging, and early detection of pancreatic cancer. In the future, we plan to validate these miRNAs using other modalities such as real-time PCR and aim to develop a simple, non-invasive diagnostic method. Although AI-based analysis was not performed in this study, it remains a future direction with potential applications in developing diagnostic support tools.

Free Research Field

腫瘍ゲノム

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究では、膵癌患者の血液・尿・唾液中miRNAの網羅的解析を試みた。尿・唾液中small RNAは収量が少なく再現性も低いため、NGSによる解析には適さないことが判明し、媒体選択の重要性と技術的課題が示された。一方、血漿中miRNAでは膵癌に特異的なOncomir群を同定し、診断や病勢評価に応用可能な候補を得た。これらの成果は腫瘍バイオマーカー研究への新たな貢献となる。今後、同定されたOncomirを用いた非侵襲的診断法の確立が期待される。AI解析は未実施だが、将来的に診断パネル構築やデータ統合解析への応用が見込まれる。本研究は膵癌の早期診断と予後改善に資する意義を有する。