Resumen
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. HCC is often diagnosed at a late stage when treatment effectiveness is limited and its prognosis remains dire. Exosomes are secreted by all living cells, including cancer cells, and contain biological material with potential to highlight disease conditions or dysregulated pathways involved in tumourigenesis. This study employs artificial intelligence methods to identify a signature of exosomal RNAs from 114,602 exosomal RNAs in 118 HCC patients and 112 healthy individuals that can predict HCC. A signature of nine exosomal RNAs, mainly in the immune, platelet/neutrophil and cytoskeletal pathways, was identified to predict HCC with an accuracy of ~85%. Hence, these nine exosomal RNAs have potential to be developed as clinically useful minimally invasive biomarkers for HCC.