Systems and methods for diagnosing hepatocellular carcinoma based on the detection and interpretation of a panel of micrornas in a subject

Abstract

A system for generating a hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) report for a subject based on blood-based molecular profiling is provided. The system includes a sample preparation module configured to process a blood sample by isolating both plasma and serum fractions. A nucleic acid extraction module extracts a microRNA (miRNA) profile from the plasma fraction, and a real-time PCR module detects and quantifies the expression levels of a predefined panel of miRNAs, including miR-361-5p, miR-130a-3p, miR-27a-3p, miR-30d-5p, and miR-193a-5p. The expression levels of the predefined panel of miRNAs are used by a trained machine learning classifier to generate a HCC risk classification categorizing the subject into one of HCC risk levels. An alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level detected and quantified from the serum fraction may also be used in combination with the miRNA expression levels in the HCC risk classification for enhanced prediction accuracy.

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