Table 2. miRNAs detected in pooled patient and control samples, as detected by Agilent Human miRNA microarrays.

miRNA	Sequence
hsa-miR-451	5′-AAACCGUUACCAUUACUGAGUU-3′
hsa-miR-638	5′-AGGGAUCGCGGGCGGGUGGCGGCCU-3′
hsa-miR-720	5′-UCUCGCUGGGGCCUCCA-3′
hsa-miR-1246	5′-AAUGGAUUUUUGGAGCAGG-3′
hsa-miR-1308	5′-GCAUGGGUGGUUCAGUGG-3′
hsa-miR-1915	5′-CCCCAGGGCGACGCGGCGGG-3′
hsa-miR-1974	5′-UGGUUGUAGUCCGUGCGAGAAUA-3′
hsa-miR-574-5p	5′-UGAGUGUGUGUGUGUGAGUGUGU-3′
hsa-miR-762	5′-GGGGCUGGGGCCGGGGCCGAGC-3′

All of these showed potential as biomarkers as the levels of miRNAs varied between the patient and control groups. The expression levels of six of these miRNAs (in bold) were verified using TaqMan qRT–PCR. Three miRNAs (miR-720, miR-1246 and miR-1308) chosen for further analysis in individual patient samples. TaqMan qRT–PCR assays for the remaining three miRNAs were not available or were unreliable.