Abstract
Ovarian cancer (OC) is considered the sixth commonest cancer affecting women
globally. We choose novel integrated specific ovarian cancer RNA biomarker
panel; pellino E3 ubiquitin protein ligase family member 3 (PELI3) gene expressions along with its selected epigenetic regulators (microRNA (miR-361-3p) and
long noncoding RNA (lncRNA RP5-837J1.2) by bioinformatic methods. Then, differential expressions of the selected panel in the sera of 50 OC patients, 42 cases
with benign ovarian lesions, and among 45 controls were determined using realtime polymerase chain reaction quantitative (qRT-PCR). Furthermore, their expression was measured also in malignant ovarian tissues and adjacent nontumor tissues
in 23 of 50 OC patients by quantitative qRT-PCR. The current study reported, for
the first time, upregulation of serum lncRNA RP5-837J1.2 with concomitant downregulation of miR-361-3p and PELI3 mRNA in malignant group compared with
benign and controls groups. There were associations of serum lncRNA
RP5-837J1.2 with the affected ovary and worse International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics staging; associations of miR-361-3p with tumor size, grade,
stage, and presence of metastasis; as well as associations among PELI3 mRNA
expression and tumor size, grade, stage, and presence of metastasis among the OC
group. In tumor tissues, miR-361-3p and PELI3 mRNA levels were at a higher
level than that of nontumor tissues; however, tumor tissue showed lower level of
lncRNA RP5-837J1.2 compared to normal tissue. There were positive correlations
between serum and tissue level of RNA RP5-837J1.2, miR-361-3p, and PELI3
mRNA, but they did not reach statistical significance. Receiver operating characteristics curve analyses showed that lncRNA RP5-837J1.2, miR-361-3p, and PELI3
mRNA expression levels can discriminate among OC patient, cases with benig