Discovery of extracellular vesicle-delivered miR-185-5p in the plasma of patients as an indicator for advanced adenoma and colorectal cancer.

Background: We aimed to evaluate whether extracellular vesicles (EV)-derived microRNAs (miRNAs) can be used as biomarkers for advanced adenoma (AA) and colorectal cancer (CRC).

Methods: We detected the changes in the plasma EV-delivered miRNA profiles in healthy donor (HD), AA patient, and I-II stage CRC patient groups using miRNA deep sequencing assay. We performed the TaqMan miRNA assay using 173 plasma samples (two independent cohorts) from HDs, AA patients, and CRC patients to identify the candidate miRNA(s).