High urine miR-126 level predicts bladder cancer in hematuria patients

Objective: Bladder cancer is one of the commonest genitourinary tumors all over the world. The early detection rate was still very low due to the lack of effective diagnostic biomarkers. In this study, we examined the feasibility and efficacy of urine miR-126 detection in the diagnosis of bladder cancer, which could help identify a new diagnostic biomarker for such deadly disease. Methods: Patients with bladder cancer (bladder cancer group) and urinary tract infection (non-bladder cancer group) admitted in our department from January 2013 to December 2016 were enrolled. The two groups were age and gender matched. Demographic and clinical data were retrieved, and urine samples were collected. Real-time RT-PCR was used to detect urine miR-126 relative expression. Results: A total of 134 bladder cancer patients were included in bladder cancer group, while there were 268 patients with urinary tract infection in non-bladder cancer patients. Real-time RT-PCR results proved that urine miR-126 level in bladder cancer patients were greatly higher than that in non-bladder cancer patients (P=0.03). In our study, there were a total of 181 patients with hematuria. High miR-126 could predict the diagnosis of bladder cancer in patients with hematuria (P=0.01). Conclusions: Increased urine miR-126 level could predict the diagnosis of bladder cancer, especially in patients with hematuria. Our findings supported that the detection of urine miR-126 could serve as a diagnostic biomarker for bladder cancer.