BACKGROUND: Altered miRNA expression is an early event upon exposure to occupational/environmental carcinogens; thus, identification of a novel asbestos-related profile of miRNAs able to distinguish asbestos-induced cancer from cancer with different etiology can be useful for diagnosis. We therefore performed a study to identify miRNAs associated with asbestos-induced malignancies. METHODS: Four groups of patients were included in the study, including patients with asbestos-related (NSCLCAsb) and asbestos-unrelated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) or with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), and disease-free subjects (CTRL). The selected miRNAs were evaluated in asbestos-exposed population. RESULTS: Four serum miRNAs, that is miR-126, miR-205, miR-222, and miR-520g, were found to be implicated in asbestos-related malignant diseases. Notably, increased expression of miR-126 and miR-222 were found in asbestos-exposed subjects, and both miRNAs are involved in major pathways linked to cancer development. Epigenetic changes and cancer-stroma cross-talk could induce repression of miR-126 to facilitate tumor formation, angiogenesis, and invasion. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that miRNAs are potentially involved in asbestos-related malignancies, and their expression outlines mechanism(s) whereby miRNAs may be involved in an asbestos-induced pathogenesis. IMPACT: The discovery of a miRNA panel for asbestos-related malignancies would impact on occupational compensation and may be utilized for screening asbestos-exposed populations.

Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health Section of Anatomical Pathology Polytechnic University of Marche Ancona Italy

Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences Section of Occupational Medicine Polytechnic University of Marche Ancona Italy

Department of Medical Sciences University of Trieste Trieste Italy

Division of Thoracic Surgery United Hospitals Ancona Italy

ENT Metropolitan Unit Bellaria Hospital AUSL Bologna Bologna Italy

Institute for Maternal and Child Health IRCCS Burlo Garofolo Trieste Italy

Institute of Biotechnology Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Prague Czech Republic

International Society of Doctors for the Environment Arezzo Italy

Mitochondria Apoptosis and Cancer Research Group School of Medical Science Griffith University Southport Australia

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