What Urine Measures Is Not What Tissue Encodes: Compartment-Specific miRNA Coordination in Prostate Cancer

The study examined four microRNAs (miR-19b-3p, miR-21-5p, miR-101-3p, and miR-375-3p) across four biological compartments (prostate tumor tissue, urine, serum, and blood) in 179 patients suspected of prostate cancer (104 with cancer, 75 with benign prostatic hyperplasia). MicroRNA expression was most pronounced and consistent in urine, with miR-101-3p showing the strongest differentiation between cancer and benign hyperplasia. Researchers found that miRNA signals in individual compartments differ and are not direct reflections of tumor molecular architecture. A combined model integrating PSA, age, and urinary miR-101-3p achieved an AUC of 0.91 with 70.5% specificity at 90% sensitivity, representing an improvement over PSA alone. This approach could help reduce unnecessary prostate biopsies.