Objective: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer- related deaths worldwide.The diagnosis of HCC patients remains difficult, especially early in the development of the disease, and yet early and accurate diagnosis of HCC patients is vital in order to improve prognosis. Promising biomarkers for diagnosis of HCC have been successfully identifiedin several studies. MicroRNA-21 is one of the oncogenic miRNAs which may be a potential diagnostic biomarker for HCC.Our aim in the study was to investigate microRNAs as a biomarker in HCC and to compare the most unique MiR-21 in the literature as a biomarker and prognostic factor.

Materials and Methods: Ten patients diagnosed with HCC and ten healthy individuals of the same age and gender were selected as the control group. Six miRNAs (Let-7c, miR-1, miR-21, miR-29, miR-34, miR-335) selected and MiR 181 and miR 192 used as the endogenous control group.

Results: MiR21 was upregulated and statistically important compared with the endogenous control miR181(p=0.041). In the ROC analysis curve, AUC was significantly high for Delta181CT miR-21 (0.778). The sensitivity and specificity values of Delta181CT miR-21 with an optimal cut-off value of -3.508564949 were 77.8% and 90.0%. respectively. None of six miRNA statistically important compared with the endogenous control miR192.

Conclusion: MiR21 is important for determining as biomarkers at diagnosis of HCC.