Diagnostic utility of miRNAs in cancer A review (original) (raw)

MicroRNA in carcinogenesis & cancer diagnostics: a new paradigm

The Indian Journal of Medical Research, 2013

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small 22-25 nucleotides long non-coding RNAs, that are conserved during evolution, and control gene expression in metazoan animals, plants, viruses, and bacteria primarily at post-transcriptional and transcriptional levels. MiRNAs ultimately regulate target gene expression by degrading the corresponding mRNA and/or inhibiting their translation. Currently, the critical functions of miRNAs have been established in regulating immune system, cell proliferation, differentiation and development, cancer and cell cycle by as yet unknown control mechanism. MiRNAs play an essential role in malignancy, and as tumour suppressors and oncogenes. Thus, discovery of new miRNAs will probably change the landscape of cancer genetics. Significantly different miRNA profiles can be assigned to various types of tumours, which could serve as phenotypic signatures for different cancers for their exploitation in cancer diagnostics, prognostics and therapeutics. If miRNA profiles can accurately predict malignancies, this technology could be exploited as a tool to surmount the diagnostic challenges. This review provides comprehensive and systematic information on miRNA biogenesis and their implications in human health.

Circulating microRNAs as potential cancer biomarkers

Revista Colombiana de Cancerología, 2015

Cancer is currently recognized as a major cause of mortality worldwide, and, as such, has a significant impact on public health. Successful early detection strategies are linked to a decrease in mortality; however, because they are invasive, highly complex, and have low specificity, their application has been limited. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short, non-coding RNA sequences capable of regulating gene expression. Molecular mechanisms of miRNAs in cancer are not fully understood, but specific patterns of miRNAs expression have been associated with many tumour types. MicroRNAs as biomarkers can help to identify tumour origin and allow their early detection. They can also be used to monitor progression and therapeutic response. The presence and stability of miRNAs in blood, as circulating miRNAs, are major factors that contribute to their use as potential biomarkers in a clinical context. The aim of this article is to present a review of miRNAs as circulating biomarkers in cancer.

MiRNAs as biomarkers and therapeutic targets in cancer

Current Opinion in Pharmacology, 2010

The knowledge that miRNA expression is frequently dysregulated in cancer has uncovered an entirely new repertoire of molecular factors upstream of gene expression, with exciting potential as novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets in cancer. Exploiting the unique characteristics of these molecules including their stability, tissue specificity, ease of detection and manipulation, will bring clinicians ever closer to achieving the goal of individualized cancer treatment. We present a comprehensive and timely review of the role of miRNAs in cancer. Herein we address briefly miRNA biogenesis, the putative role of miRNAs as oncogenes or tumor suppressors, and their potential as sensitive and specific tumor markers with particular emphasis on the commonest cancers; breast, prostate, lung and colorectal. We also discuss circulating tumor-associated miRNAs which are emerging as clinically useful tools for early detection, prognostication and management of various cancers. Finally we explore their potential therapeutic applications in the field of cancer and highlight some of the potential challenges that need to be overcome in order to bring miRNAs from bench to bedside. Given the evidence to date, we envisage a pivotal role for miRNAs in the future individualized management of cancer patients.

Serum microRNAs as powerful cancer biomarkers

Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Reviews on Cancer, 2010

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression at the posttranscriptional level by either degrading or blocking translation of messenger RNA targets. Recent expression profiling studies have revealed that miRNAs play important regulatory roles in a variety of cellular functions as well as in every cancer type studied so far. Lately, the discovery of miRNAs in the serum of cancer patients opened up the exciting prospective of using miRNAs as powerful and non-invasive cancer biomarkers. In this article, we review the current literature on serum miRNAs in different cancer types and the approaches used to detect and quantify these molecules. We then discuss the potential of miRNA biomarkers to improve disease diagnosis by distinguishing healthy from malignant tissues, identifying the tissue of origin in poorly differentiated tumors or tumors of unknown origin and distinguishing between different subtypes of the same tumor. We will also compare the advantages and disadvantages of potential serum miRNA biomarker molecules for cancer classification, estimation of prognosis and prediction of therapeutic efficacy. Finally, we will establish a set of criteria that these new molecules and clinical studies that use them must fulfill before they can be used as reliable tools in diagnostic and prognostic settings.

MicroRNAs as biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of human cancer

Journal of Nucleic Acids Investigation, 2010

miRNAs are small-noncoding RNA molecules that regulate gene expression on a posttranscriptional level. A number of oncogenes and tumor suppressors were found to be targets of miRNAs and global miRNA expression signatures were able to distinguish between cancerous and non-cancerous tissues. Therefore it was not surprising that some miRNAs could be linked to the pathogenesis of cancer. In this review we provide an overview of the use of microRNAs as diagnostic and prognostic tools in cancer and focus on the use of miRNA expression as biomarker for disease activity.

Micro-RNAs: The new potential biomarkers in cancer diagnosis, prognosis and cancer therapy

Cellular and molecular biology, 2015

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a large class of small noncoding RNAs approximately 22 nucleotides in length. They are the main regulators of gene expression, regulating specific oncogenes, tumor suppressors, cancer stem cells and metastasis. MicroRNAs have become valuable to cancer research in recent years. They appear as a significant biomarker in tumorigenesis. Briefly, the capacities of miRNA to identify between tumor and normal tissue, to distinguish between various subgroups of tumors and to foretell results or responses to therapy have attracted scientist's attention to these small RNAs. MicroRNAs' remarkable stability in both the tissue and bloodstream of cancer patients has elevated the possibility that miRNAs may prove to be a novel diagnostic biomarker. This review focuses on the utility of miRNAs as key biomarkers in cancer diagnosis, cancer prognosis and cancer therapy.

New Concepts in Cancer Biomarkers: Circulating miRNAs in Liquid Biopsies

International journal of molecular sciences, 2016

The effective and efficient management of cancer patients relies upon early diagnosis and/or the monitoring of treatment, something that is often difficult to achieve using standard tissue biopsy techniques. Biological fluids such as blood hold great possibilities as a source of non-invasive cancer biomarkers that can act as surrogate markers to biopsy-based sampling. The non-invasive nature of these "liquid biopsies" ultimately means that cancer detection may be earlier and that the ability to monitor disease progression and/or treatment response represents a paradigm shift in the treatment of cancer patients. Below, we review one of the most promising classes of circulating cancer biomarkers: microRNAs (miRNAs). In particular, we will consider their history, the controversy surrounding their origin and biology, and, most importantly, the hurdles that remain to be overcome if they are really to become part of future clinical practice.

MicroRNAs: A Puzzling Tool in Cancer Diagnostics and Therapy

Anticancer research, 2016

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) constitute a dominating class of small RNAs that regulate diverse cellular functions. Due the pivotal role of miRNAs in biological processes, a deregulated miRNA expression is likely involved in human cancers. MicroRNAs possess tumor suppressor capability, as well as display oncogenic characteristics. Interestingly, miRNAs exist in various biological fluids as circulating entities. Changes in the profile of circulating miRNAs are indicative of pathophysiological conditions in human cancer. This concept has led to consider circulating miRNAs valid biomarkers in cancer diagnostics. Furthermore, current research promotes the use of miRNAs as a target in cancer therapy. However, miRNAs are an evolving research field. Although miRNAs have been demonstrated to be potentially valuable tools both in cancer diagnosis and treatment, a greater effort should be made to improve our understanding of miRNAs biology. This review describes the biology of microRNAs, emphasizing on ...

Cell-free Circulating miRNA Biomarkers in Cancer

Journal of Cancer, 2012

Considerable attention and an enormous amount of resources have been dedicated to cancer biomarker discovery and validation. However, there are still a limited number of useful biomarkers available for clinical use. An ideal biomarker should be easily assayed with minimally invasive medical procedures but possess high sensitivity and specificity. Commonly used circulating biomarkers are proteins in serum, most of which require labor-intensive analysis hindered by low sensitivity in early tumor detection. Since the deregulation of microRNA (miRNA) is associated with cancer development and progression, profiling of circulating miRNAs has been used in a number of studies to identify novel minimally invasive miRNA biomarkers. In this review, we discuss the origin of the circulating cell-free miRNAs and their carriers in blood. We summarize the clinical use and function of potentially promising miRNA biomarkers in a variety of different cancers, along with their downstream target genes in tumor initiation and development. Additionally, we analyze some technical challenges in applying miRNA biomarkers to clinical practice.