Liquid biopsy-based early disease detection assays are key enablers of preventive healthcare.
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Circulatory miRNAs are promising liquid biopsy biomarkers that are increasingly being adopted for clinical use.
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Pre-analytical sample handling is critical to data reproducibility and adoption of miRNA clinical assays.
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Advances in quantifying circulatory miRNAs bolster point-of-care liquid biopsy testing capabilities at the clinics.
Precision preventive healthcare aims to improve patient health by integrating preventive measures with early disease detection for timely intervention with precision medicine. Key to the delivery of preventive healthcare is the clinical adoption of novel assays that enable early disease detection. Such assays, typically based on biomarkers such as microRNAs (miRNAs) from liquid biopsy or excreta, are entering clinical practice after years of clinical development and validation. In this review, we discuss the clinical utility and validation of miRNA-based molecular diagnostics for early disease detection through large-cohort studies and key considerations for developing multi-analyte clinical assays. We also highlight recent advances in the ongoing development of integrated PCR-free miRNA detection systems for point-of-care testing.
