Abstract
Background/Aims: Timely detection with highly accurate biomarkers would be helpful in effectively managing colorectal cancer (CRC). We aim to investigate the accuracy of 3 emerging biomarkers—miR-21, miR-24, and miR-145—in detecting synchronous metastases in CRC.Methods: We recruited newly diagnosed CRC patients with extensive investigations to determine cancer staging and metastatic status. The expression levels of miR-21, miR-24, and miR-145 in tumor biopsy were measured using reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Multivariate and receiver operating characteristic analyses were conducted to evaluate the association and performance of these miRNAs in identifying various metastases.Results: Out of the 63 Indonesian patients involved, 37 (58.7%) were diagnosed with localized CRC, whereas the remaining 26 (41.3%) were identified as having metastases: 31.7% liver, 14.3% lung, 3.2% bone, and 4.8% other metastases. There was a significant downregulation of miR-24 expression in metastatic CRC patients compared to those without metastases (0.024 [4.680] vs. 12.900 [42.376], PPPP< 0.05) metastases. No association was found between miR-145 expression and metastatic status. The miR-21/24 ratio accurately identified synchronous metastases irrespective of organ site, with an area under the curve (95% CI) of 0.833 (0.722–0.944) and positive predictive value of 94.4%.Conclusions: Alteration of miR-21 and miR-24 expression levels was associated with a high incidence of synchronous metastases in Indonesian CRC. The miR-21/24 ratio demonstrated significant potential as a biomarker for detecting synchronous metastases in CRC.