Plasma circular RNA_0002867 as a diagnostic biomarker for hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma

Objective To investigate the diagnostic value of plasma circular RNA_0002867 （circ_0002867） for hepatitis B virus （HBV）-related hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC）. Methods The published sequencing results were analyzed to screen the high expression of circular RNAs in both tissues and plasma of HCC patients. The expression levels of plasma circ_0002867 were detected by digital droplet polymerase chain reaction （ddPCR） in 35 patients with HBV-related HCC and 30 patients with HBV-related liver cirrhosis. The serum alpha-fetoprotein （AFP） levels were determined by electrochemiluminescence in two groups. The receiver operating characteristic （ROC） curve was delineated to analyze diagnostic values of plasma circ_0002867, serum AFP and these two combined for HCC. Results The circ_0002867, which was highly expressed in both tissues and plasma of HCC patients, was screened for subsequent validation. The expression level of plasma circ_0002867 in the HBV-related liver cirrhosis group was significantly lower than that in the HBV-related HCC group （（19.15±11.57） copies/ml vs. （29.63±11.56） copies/ml; P < 0.001））. The area under ROC for plasma circ_0002867, serum AFP, and these two combined was 0.725 （95% CI 0.600-0.828）, 0.670 （95% CI 0.542-0.781） and 0.810 （95% CI 0.693-0.896）, respectively. The combination of serum AFP and plasma circ_0002867 significantly improved the diagnostic accuracy of serum AFP for HBV-related HCC （P < 0.05）. Conclusion Plasma circ_0002867 combined with serum AFP is a potential diagnostic biomarker for HBV-related HCC in clinical practice.