MicroRNA as tools and therapeutics in lung cancer

Abstract

Lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer related deaths. The lack of specific and accurate tools for early diagnosis and minimal targeted therapeutics both contribute to poor outcomes. The recent discovery of microRNAs (miRNAs) revealed a novel mechanism for post-transcriptional regulation in cancer and has created new opportunities for the development of diagnostics, prognostics and targeted therapeutics. In lung cancer, miRNA expression profiles distinguish histological subtypes, predict chemotherapeutic response and are associated with prognosis, metastasis and survival. Furthermore, miRNAs circulate in body fluids and hence may serve as important biomarkers for early diagnosis or stratify patients for personalized therapeutic strategies. Here, we provide an overview of the miRNAs implicated in lung cancer, with an emphasis on their clinical utility.

Role of plasma MicroRNAs in the early diagnosis of non-small-cell lung cancers: a case-control study

“…MiRNAs from blood also demonstrated high stability after prolonged incubation at room temperature and/or after multiple freezing-thawing processes. Thus, identifying a miRNA that can diagnose lung cancer patients, at an early stage, may play an important role in the future treatment of this cancer (42).…”

miR‑126/VCAM‑1 regulation by naringin suppresses cell growth of human non‑small cell lung cancer

“…VCAM-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule 1; NF-κB, nuclear factor κB; mTOR, mechanistic target of rapamycin; PI3K, phosphoinositide 3-kinase; AKT, protein kinase B; p, phosphorylated; miR, microRNA; Negative, negative mimics group. suppressor gene during tumorigenesis (4). High expression levels of miR-16 in SCLC have been verified by applying qPCR methods, and its potential specific target genes have been indicated (21).…”

“…Certain miRNAs constitute the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC), together with other proteins (4). Subsequent to the RlSC protein complex combining with mRNA, the complex will begin to splice mRNA or block mRNA translation, consequently causing mRNA degradation or translation inhibition (5).…”

MicroRNA-196b Inhibits Cell Growth and Metastasis of Lung Cancer Cells by Targeting Runx2

“…Seriously most of the patients are diagnosed in the latest stage of lung cancer, especially in stage IV [3]. Despite the different therapeutic methods such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery were utilized to improve the survival rate of patients with lung cancer, the inevitable metastasis remain a great challenge for the treatment of lung cancer [4, 5]. Hence, there is an urgent need to introduce novel and effective therapies for treating lung cancer.…”