Are Micrornas the Answer to Colorectal Cancer’s Big Questions?

Abstract

The question, “What determines whether a polyp will become cancerous?” was recently declared one of the five central puzzles critical to advancing colon cancer treatment [1]. The benign to cancerous transition is a critical intervention stage as tumors diagnosed in subsequent non-localized and malignant stages are exponentially more difficult to treat successfully. The decreasing mortality rate is largely credited to increased screening with sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy, and fecal occult blood tests that result in early detection of precancerous polyps or early stage colon cancer. Despite the increased preventive screening, colorectal cancer remains a deadly disease, with an estimated 136,830 new cases and 50,310 deaths in the United States in 2014 [2]. There is both a critical need and opportunity for novel treatment strategies that either halt or prevent the transformation from polyp to cancer.