Publication details
Translational potential of microRNAs in oncology
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2013 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | MicroRNAs (miRNAs)are small non-coding RNAs 18-25 nt long that downregulate gene expression during various crucial cell processes such as apoptosis, differentiation and development. Changes in the expression profiles of miRNAs have been observed in a variety of human solid tumors and hematological malignancies. Functional studies indicate that miRNAs act as tumor suppressors and oncogenes and are involved in hallmarks of cancer. These findings significantly extend concept of molecular pathogenesis of cancer and have shown great potential for miRNAs as a novel class of therapeutic targets. Several investigations have also described the ability of miRNA expression profiles to predict prognosis and response to selected treatments in cancer patients and support diagnosis of origin among cancer of unknown primary site. MiRNAs occurrence has been repeatedly observed also in blood serum, plasma and urine, and miRNAs as novel minimally invasive biomarkers have indicated reasonable sensitivity for cancer detection. |