Objective To investigate the diagnostic efficacy of serum microRNA-375 (miR-375) and microRNA-760 (miR-760) combined liver enhancement computed tomography(CT) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods A total of 144 patients with HCC were included in cancer group, and another 144 patients with benign liver tumors in the same period were included in benign group. The expression levels of serum miR-375 and miR-760 were measured in both groups. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted to analyze the diagnostic value of serum miR-375 and miR-760 expression levels combined with liver enhancement CT in HCC. The Kappa test was used to analyze the consistency of lonely detection of serum miR-375, miR-760 levels and liver enhancement CT, and their combined diagnosis for HCC with the gold standard pathological results.

Results The expression levels of serum miR-375 and miR-760 in the cancer group were significantly lower than those in the benign group (P<0.05). The expression levels of serum miR-375 and miR-760 in patients with HCC were correlated with the number of tumor, tumor diameter, TNM stage, distant organ metastasis, degree of differentiation, portal vein tumor thrombus, and hepatitis B surface antigen (P<0.05). The ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of combined diagnosis of HCC using serum miR-375, miR-760, and liver enhancement CT was significantly greater than the AUC of individual diagnosis of the three methods (P<0.05), and there was a high consistency with pathological results (Kappa=0.826).

Conclusion The expression levels of serum miR-375 and miR-760 in patients with HCC are lower than those in patients with benign liver tumors. The combined use of serum miR-375 and miR-760 levels and liver enhancement CT technology can significantly improve the diagnostic efficacy of HCC.