Methods and compositions involving mirna expression levels for distinguishing pancreatic cysts

A method of evaluating a pancreatic cyst from a patient comprising:

• a) from a sample of the pancreatic cyst, measuring the level of expression of at least miR-24 and at least one of the following comparative microRNAs:
• miR-30a-3p, miR-342-3p, and miR-99b;
• b) comparing the level of expression between miR-24 and the at least one comparative microRNA to determine a mitt-24 diffpair value;
• and,
• c) calculating a diagnostic score that indicates whether the pancreatic cyst is a low risk or high risk lesion.

A method for analyzing a pancreatic cyst sample from a patient comprising:

• a) measuring the level of expression in the cyst sample at least two of the following biomarker miRNAs:
• miR-18a, miR-24, miR-30a-3p, miR-92a, miR-99b, miR-106b, miR-142-3p, miR-342-3p, miR-532-3p;
• b) measuring the level of expression of at least one comparative miRNA, wherein the level of expression of the comparative miRNA is compared with one or more biomarker miRNA expression levels;
• c) comparing each of the at least two levels ofbiomarker expression with the level of expression of the at least one comparative RNA to determine a diff pair value;
• and,
• d) determining a diagnostic score that indicates the risk for a high risk lesion or a low risk lesion.

A method for evaluating a pancreatic cyst in a patient comprising:

• a) measuring from a pancreatic cyst sample from the patient the level of expression of at least one of the following miRNAs:
• miR-18a, miR-24, miR-30a-3p, miR-92a, miR-99b, miR-106b, miR-142-3p, miR-342-3p, or miR-532-3p;
• b) comparing the level of expression of the at least one miRNA to the level of expression of at least a first comparative microRNA;
• and,
• c) evaluating the sample based on the comparison between the level of expression of the at least one miRNA to the level of expression of at least a first comparative microRNA, wherein the evaluation indicates whether the pancreatic cyst is a low risk or high risk lesion.

A tangible computer-readable medium comprising computer-readable code that, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform operations comprising:

• a) receiving information corresponding to a level of expression in a pancreatic cyst sample from a patient of at least two of the following diffpair miRNAs:
• miR-18a, miR-24, miR-30a-3p, milt-92a, miR-99b, miR-106b, miR-142-3p, miR-342-3p, or miR-532-3p, wherein at least one of the miRNAs is a biomarker miRNA;
• and
• b) determining a biomarker diff pair value using information corresponding to the at least one biomarker miRNA and information corresponding to the level of expression of a comparative micro RNA, the diff pair value being indicative of whether the pancreatic cyst is a low risk or high risk lesion.