Title:MicroRNAs in Colon and Rectal Cancer - Novel Biomarkers from Diagnosis to Therapy
Volume: 20
Issue: 8
Author(s): Ying Yang, Wen-Jian Meng*Zi-Qiang Wang
Affiliation:
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041,China
Keywords:
Colorectal cancer, microRNAs, diagnosis, prognosis, radiotherapy, chemoradiotherapy
Abstract: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers and a significant cause of tumor-
related deaths worldwide. Traditional biomarkers, such as CEA and CA199, are not sensitive
enough to provide useful information for early diagnosis and treatment and are rather used to track the
clinical progression of the disease. There is growing evidence that microRNAs (miRNA) are potentially
superior to traditional biomarkers as promising non-invasive biomarkers for the timely diagnosis
and prediction of prognosis or treatment response in the management of CRC. In this review, the latest
studies on the dysregulation of miRNAs expression in CRC and the potential for miRNAs to serve as
biomarkers were collected. Given the limitations of miRNA, as discussed in this paper, its clinical
applications as a diagnostic biomarker should be limited to use in combination with other biomarkers.
Further research is necessary to elucidate the clinical applications of miRNA in therapy for CRC.