Resumen
Differentiating between benign and malignant renal neoplasms is critical to clinical management and can significantly impact treatment. Most contemporary methods involve invasive tissue biopsy of the renal mass. One potential less invasive method for discriminating between various histologic types involves the use of cell-free biomarkers such as microRNA (miRNA). Several studies using conventional real-time PCR (RT-PCR) analysis have identified various blood-based miRNA biomarkers of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). However, few of these studies report biomarkers distinguishing benign masses. We utilized droplet digital PCR (ddPCR), a robust nucleic acid quantification method, to examine the potential use of plasma miRNA as biomarkers of renal tumors. We demonstrate that the combination of miR-210-3p and miR-222-3p is higher in the blood of patients with RCC than in benign patients. In addition, this study demonstrated that ddPCR outperformed conventional RT-PCR in detecting miRNAs that were characteristic of malignant versus benign renal masses.