Title:MicroRNA Dysregulation in Esophageal Neoplasia: The Biological Rationale for Novel Therapeutic Options
Volume: 19
Issue: 7
Author(s): Matteo Fassan, Raffaele Baffa, Andras Kiss, Giovanni Zaninotto and Massimo Rugge
Affiliation:
Keywords:
miRNAs, esophageal cancer, preneoplastic lesions, biomarkers, molecular dysregulations, gene products, endogenous silencers, tumor suppressors, tumor promoters, adjuvant
Abstract: While the phenotypic changes involved in the esophageal oncogenic “cascade” are now well established, the molecular profiling
of this pathway remains unreliable. Our understanding of the molecular dysregulations underlying the development/progression of
cancer has recently been expanded by the characterization of a new class of small, noncoding RNA gene products, the microRNAs (or
miRNAs). These “endogenous silencers” target a large number of genes, functioning as tumor suppressors or tumor promoters, depending
on the activity of the targeted genes. In esophageal cancer, miRNA dysregulation plays a significant part in the molecular oncogenic
pathway, in cancer prognosis, and in patients’ responsiveness to neo-adjuvant and adjuvant therapies. In addition to these valuable features,
miRNAs have been proposed as innovative therapeutics per se and as plausible biological targets in new treatment strategies.
