Abstract
Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary malignant bone carcinoma with high morbidity that happens mainly in children and young adults. As the key components of gene-regulatory networks, microRNAs (miRNAs) control many critical pathophysiological processes, including initiation and progression of cancers. The objective of this study is to summarize and evaluate the potential of miRNAs as targets for prevention and treatment of OS in mouse models, and to explore the methodological quality of current studies. We searched PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Wan Fang Database, VIP Database, China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database, and Chinese BioMedical since their beginning date to 10 May 2016. Two reviewers separately screened the controlled studies, which estimate the effects of miRNAs on osteosarcoma in mice. A pair-wise analysis was performed. Thirty six studies with enough randomization were selected and included in the meta-analysis. We found that blocking oncogenic or restoring decreased miRNAs in cancer cells could significantly suppress the progression of OS in vivo, as assessed by tumor volume and tumor weight. This meta-analysis suggests that miRNAs are potential therapeutic targets for OS and correction of the altered expression of miRNAs significantly suppresses the progression of OS in mouse models, however, the overall methodological quality of studies included here was low, and more animal studies with the rigourous design must be carried out before a miRNA-based treatment could be translated from animal studies to clinical trials.
Highlights
Osteosarcoma (OS), is a most frequent primary malignant bone tumor, accounts for 60% of all malignant childhood bone tumors, and is the second highest reason of cancer-associated death in adolescents [1, 2]
Given that the heterogeneity was high among the studies, a random-effects model was selected, and the tumor weight considerably decreased when the expressions of the oncogene miRNAs were corrected
The functional contributions of miRNAs in the development and progression of malignancies have resulted in the development of new therapeutic approaches
Summary
Osteosarcoma (OS), is a most frequent primary malignant bone tumor, accounts for 60% of all malignant childhood bone tumors, and is the second highest reason of cancer-associated death in adolescents [1, 2]. OS can happen in any bone, the most common sites of primary bone malignancies are the proximal tibia, proximal humerus and distal femur [1]. Despite the neoadjuvant therapeutic strategies combined with aggressive tumor resection, the prognosis for OS patients still remains poor due to the risk of local relapse and develo pment of pulmonary metastasis [5, 6]. The clinical need for developing the new therapeutic approaches targeting the treatment of OS remains urgent but unmet
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