For the diagnosis of III-IV stage CRC vs. AA, the AUC value of miR-185-5p (0.631) was relatively lower but not significantly different from that of CA199 (0.681, P = 0.6706; significance analysis) and CEA (0.793, P = 0.0762; significance analysis) (Additional file 5: Fig. S5D-S5F). The gene discussed is CEACAM5; the disease is colorectal carcinoma.