Circulating microRNAs: emerging biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis in patients with gastrointestinal cancers

Abstract

To identify novel non-invasive biomarkers for improved detection, risk assessment and prognostic evaluation of cancer, expression profiles of circulating microRNAs are currently under evaluation. Circulating microRNAs are highly promising candidates in this context, as they present some key characteristics for cancer biomarkers: they are tissue-specific with reproducible expression and consistency among individuals from the same species, they are potentially derived directly from the tumour and therefore might correlate with tumour progression and recurrence, and they are bound to proteins or contained in subcellular particles, such as microvesicles or exosomes, making them highly stable and resistant to degradation. The present review highlights the origin of circulating microRNAs, their stability in blood samples, and techniques to isolate exosomal microRNAs, and then addresses the current evidence supporting potential clinical applications of circulating miRNAs for diagnostic and prognostic purposes.

Regulatory role of microRNA184 in osteosarcoma cells

“…MiRNAs are closely associated with tumor occurrence and development. Some miRNAs can promote tumor proliferation and metastasis, whereas others inhibit tumorigenesis (Gallach et al, 2014;Lindner et al, 2015). Previous research showed that miRNAs are abnormally expressed in osteosarcoma, and may function as oncogenes or tumor suppressors.…”

Membrane microparticles: shedding new light into cancer cell communication

“…In cancer, they are deregulated and involved in tumorigenesis, tumor progression, metastasis and resistance to treatment. Furthermore, miRNAs have recently been proposed as promising biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and follow-up studies on disease progression, because they can be detected in body fluids, carried by MPs or associated with proteins that protect them from degradation (Fujiwara et al 2014;Inns and James 2015;Jackson et al 2014;Lindner et al 2015;Liu and Xiao 2014;Pimentel et al 2014). Several groups are attempting to uncover the underlying mechanisms involved in miRNA selection, release and transport to blood fluids and their role in cancer (Arroyo et al 2011;Li et al 2012;Turchinovich et al 2011).…”

From blood to breath: New horizons for esophageal cancer biomarkers

“…miRNA’s are single stranded, non-coding RNA’s that can regulate gene and protein expression[43,44]. miRNAs are abundantly expressed in a stable form, with highly consistent levels amongst individuals in a range of extracellular fluids including blood serum and plasma, and have drawn attention as biomarkers for cancer and disease[43,44].…”

“…miRNAs are abundantly expressed in a stable form, with highly consistent levels amongst individuals in a range of extracellular fluids including blood serum and plasma, and have drawn attention as biomarkers for cancer and disease[43,44]. Recent studies have reported plasma/serum circulating miRNAs to be potential diagnostic and prognostic markers in some gastrointestinal cancers - esophageal squamous, esophageal adenocarcinoma, gastric and colorectal[43,44]. Although still an emerging area of research, recent meta-analyses have highlighted the potential of circulating miRNAs for the detection of esophageal cancer.…”