Abstract
MicroRNAs in Barrett's esophagus: future prospects.
Highlights
Esophageal adenocarcinoma is an aggressive malignancy with a poor prognosis
MicroRNAs are a class of small non-coding endogenous RNAs, 18–25 nucleotides in length, and are capable of simultaneous regulation of genes by binding to target mRNAs, resulting in mRNA degradation or translational inhibition. miRNAs participate in many essential biological processes, including proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, necrosis, autophagy, and stress responses (Saito et al, 2011b, 2012a). miRNAs have been shown to play a potential role in cancer pathogenesis through their functions as oncogenes or tumor suppressors, depending on their gene targets (Saito et al, 2009a, 2011a; Nishizawa and Suzuki, 2013)
Several cross-sectional studies using comprehensive array analysis have been reported (Feber et al, 2008; Kan et al, 2009; Yang et al, 2009; Fassan et al, 2011; Leidner et al, 2012; Wu et al, 2013), their results have proved controversial. They compared the expression of miRNAs across different types of histological specimens such as Barrett’s esophagus, low-grade dysplasia, high-grade dysplasia, and esophageal adenocarcinoma, and reported that a substantial number of miRNAs show differential expression in esophageal tissues (Sakai et al, 2013)
Summary
Esophageal adenocarcinoma is an aggressive malignancy with a poor prognosis. In Western countries, the incidence of esophageal adenocarcinoma has increased dramatically in the last three decades. Compared to mRNAs, miRNAs are less numerous in humans and have been proposed to act as better biomarkers by virtue of their small size, greater stability, and capability of regulating hundreds of mRNAs. miRNAs profiling could improve the risk stratification for the progression of Barrett’s esophagus to esophageal adenocarcinoma. Very few studies have been conducted to identify miRNAs as prognostic biomarkers for the progression of Barrett’s esophagus to adenocarcinoma.
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