AI-Based miRNA Liquid Biopsy Assay Shows High Diagnostic Accuracy For Preoperative Detection Of Occult Metastases In ICC, Study Finds

GI & Hepatology News (5/7, Cipriano) reports a study presented at Digestive Disease Week 2026 found that “a machine learning-based exosomal microRNA (miRNA) liquid biopsy assay demonstrated ‘remarkable’ diagnostic accuracy for the preoperative detection of occult metastases in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) and was associated with survival outcomes.” The researchers “performed exosomal small RNA sequencing on plasma samples obtained from patients with ICC at clinical stages I to III (n = 40) to identify exosome-derived miRNAs associated with occult metastasis.” They developed a “composite risk-stratification model” known as the EXOMIC assay “by integrating the exosome-derived miRNA panel with preoperative clinical parameters.” Researchers found the EXOMIC assay improved “predictive performance. This composite model demonstrated ‘excellent’ diagnostic accuracy in both the training (AUC = 0.89; sensitivity = 0.94) and independent testing (AUC = 0.85; sensitivity = 0.88) cohorts.”