MicroRNAs as emerging biomarkers and therapeutic targets for pancreatic cancer

Abstract

Despite tremendous efforts from scientists and clinicians worldwide, pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains a deadly disease due to the lack of early diagnostic tools and reliable therapeutic approaches. Consequently, a majority of patients (80%) display an advanced disease that results in a low resection rate leading to an overall median survival of less than 6 months. Accordingly, robust markers for the early diagnosis and prognosis of pancreatic cancer, or markers indicative of survival and/or metastatic disease are desperately needed to help alleviate the dismal prognosis of this cancer. In addition, the discovery of new therapeutic targets is mandatory to design effective treatments. In this review, we will highlight the translational studies demonstrating that microRNAs may soon translate into clinical applications as long-awaited screening tools and therapeutic targets for PDAC.

Curcumin induces apoptotic cell death in human pancreatic cancer cells via the miR-340/XIAP signaling pathway

“…miRNAs have emerged as promising drug targets, and miRNA-based therapies have been proposed in various cancer models (14,15). Several miRNAs have been revealed to serve key roles in the development and progression of pancreatic cancer (16)(17)(18). In addition, previous studies have demonstrated that miRNA signatures change following chemotherapy (19,20).…”

MicroRNAs in osteosarcoma

“…However, miRNAs can also bind to 5′-UTR or open reading frame (ORF) [21]. Of note, endogenous ORF targeting seems to be less frequent and effective than 3′-UTR targeting but still more frequent than 5′-UTR targeting [22]. Targeting occurs through both perfect and imperfect complementarity between mature miRNAs and MREs.…”

AGA White Paper: Optimizing Endoscopic Ultrasound–Guided Tissue Acquisition and Future Directions

“…For EUS-FNB specimen prepared by formalin-fixed, paraffinembedded, a 95% success rate for NGS is expected when samples have a tissue volume of 1.2 cm 2 and at least 5 ng/mL of analyzable DNA. 49 Although much of the initial work on EUS-TA has focused on NGS and is the focus of this paper, numerous additional methods, such as RNA and microRNA sequencing, [59][60][61][62] use of fluorescence in situ hybridization, 63,64 identification of protein and immune markers, the creation of tumor organoids, [65][66][67][68] and low cost whole-exome sequencing are emerging. Of these methods, the ability to create organoids, which are in vitro 3-dimensional tissue models, is particularly promising.…”

“…62 Similarly, microRNA analyses may aid in not only in achieving a diagnosis, but also in predicting prognosis and identifying tumor susceptibility to chemotherapeutic agents in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas. 60,61 Another important recent advance has been the creation of murine and human pancreatic organoids from normal and malignant pancreatic tissue. 65,66 Organoids developed from pancreatic progenitor and tumor cells are believed to more accurately retain patient-specific tumor/tissue characteristics and can be successfully used to test for drug sensitivity when compared with traditional 2-dimensional tissue culture models.…”