Abstract

Objective: Despite advances in early diagnosis of lung cancer, most lung cancers are diagnosed in the advanced stages of the disease. Disorders of microRNA expression are often associated with the onset and progression of diseases such as lung cancer. MicroRNAs in plasma or serum as biomarkers are effective in early detection and screening for lung cancer. The cdc42 gene has also been overexpressed in several types of cancer, including lung cancer and this gene is involved in processes such as cell growth and metastasis. Therefore, the expression of cdc42 and miR-372 gene expression may be used to predict metastasis and early diagnosis. Patients and Methods: To conduct the present study, 200 serum samples (100 serum samples of healthy individuals and 100 serum samples of people with NSCLC) were collected from people referring to Masih Daneshvari Hospital in Tehran. Individual and clinical information of all patients were prepared by questionnaires. Then, plasma separation, RNA extraction, cDNA synthesis, and primer design were performed, and Real Time PCR method was used to qualitatively evaluate the expression of Cdc42 gene and miR-372 expression changes. Results: The data showed that serum expression of cdc42 gene and miR-372 in the first to third stages did not differ significantly from healthy serum samples. However, in the serum of the fourth stage of metastasis, the expression of cdc42 and miR-372 genes, had a significant increase (p <0.05) compared to healthy samples, 3.4 (p=0.032) and 7.3 (p=0.022) times, respectively. Conclusions: Based on the results of this study, it is possible to predict the stage of metastasis in lung cancer by examining the expression of Cdc42 gene and miR-372 in serum.