Biomarkers in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells for Diagnosing or Detecting Lung Cancers

Abstract

Methods and compositions are provided for diagnosing or detecting a condition, e.g., lung disease in a mammalian subject by use of a micro-RNA expression level or an expression level profile of multiple miRNA in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of the subject which is characteristic of COPD or NSCLC. Detection of changes in expression in specific miRNA biomarkers from that of a reference sample or miRNA expression profile are correlated with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and/or COPD and permit differentiation among healthy subjects, subjects with COPD and subjects with adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma.

1 . A method of diagnosing or detecting or assessing a condition in a mammalian subject comprising
 (a) detecting in a biological sample of the subject, or from an miRNA expression profile generated from the sample, the expression level of an miRNA nucleic acid sequence identified in Table 1;   (b) comparing the miRNA expression level or miRNA expression profile from the subject's sample to a reference miRNA standard;   wherein a change in expression of the subject's sample miRNA from that in the reference miRNA standard indicates a diagnosis or prognosis of a condition selected from the group consisting of a lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and benign lung nodules.