Circular RNAs in endometrial carcinoma (Review)

Abstract

As one of the leading causes of death in women in Western developed countries, endometrial carcinoma (EC) is a common gynecological malignant tumor that seriously threatens women's health. In recent years, a trend has emerged of EC being manifested in younger women, and its overall incidence is gradually rising. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are novel endogenous transcripts that have limited ability to encode proteins due to their covalent closed-loop structure, which differs from that of other types of RNA. A growing body of evidence has demonstrated that circRNAs fulfill an important role in lung cancer, gastric cancer, breast cancer, EC and other malignant tumor types, and they can affect the occurrence and development of these malignancies through a variety of pathways, further demonstrating the potential of circRNAs as molecular biomarkers for the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of malignant tumors. The purpose of the present review is to summarize the current understanding of the biogenesis and effects of circRNAs, and to discuss the expression, function and underlying mechanism of circRNAs in EC in order to identify potential novel biomarkers.

Number of Positive Lymph Nodes and Survival in Endometrial Carcinoma: A Proposal for a Modified Staging

“…14 The included criteria of our study were (1) diagnosed as primary endometrial carcinoma based on the primary site code the international classification of diseases for oncology-3 (ICD-O-3), (2) age at diagnosis ≥18 years old, and (3) FIGO/AJCC stage I-III. The exclusion criteria were as follows: (1) patients with reported diagnosis source from autopsy or death certificate or only clinically diagnosed, (2) who did not examine lymph nodes, (3) unknown number of positive lymph nodes, (4) without complete clinicopathological information and survival data. Finally, a total of 28,824 patients were included.…”

“…The number of positive lymph nodes was divided into three categories according to X-tile software: 0, 1-6 and ≥7. Combined FIGO staging with the number of positive lymph nodes, we obtained IA, IB, II, IIIA, IIIB, IIIC1 (1-6), IIIC1 (≥7), IIIC2 (1-6), IIIC2 (≥7), IVA (0), IVA (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6), IVA (≥7), IVB (0), and IVB (1-6), and IVB (≥7). After combining the above stages according to the KM curve, they were eventually divided into IA, IB, II, IIIA, IIB (IIIB or IIIC+ positive lymph nodes <7), IVA (IVA or IIIC + positive lymph nodes≥7), IVB (IVB + positive lymph nodes<7), IVC (IVC + positive lymph nodes≥7).…”

“…Endometrial carcinoma is a type of epithelial malignancy that arises from the endometrium, which ranks among the most prevalent gynecological malignancies. 1 According to the epidemiological survey, the number of new cases of endometrial carcinoma exceeded 410,000 globally in 2020, making endometrial carcinoma the sixth most common cancer among women, and the morbidity and mortality of endometrial carcinoma are both on the rise. [2][3][4] To identify more reliable biomarkers related to the prognosis of endometrial carcinoma patients was necessary.…”

circRNAs in Endometrial Cancer—A Promising Biomarker: State of the Art

“…However, it can be assumed that circRNA molecules play an important role in the pathophysiology of EC, among others, through molecular mechanisms regulating gene expression or the functioning of cancer cells, e.g., the sponge mechanism for miRNAs and regulation of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway [ 8 , 12 , 18 , 41 ]. Despite many studies that indicate the role of circRNAs in the development and progression of cancer, their role in the pathogenesis of EC is unknown and is a promising area of research worthy of interest.…”

Clinicopathological role of Cyclin A2 in uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma: Integration of tissue microarrays and ScRNA-Seq

“…Uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma (UCEC) is a primary gynecologic malignant disease-the second most common gynecologic malignancy in the world-and has high mortality. 1,2 Studies have suggested that obesity elevates the risk of suffering from UCEC. 3 The global incidence and mortality rates of UCEC are alarming.…”