Abstract
Esophageal cancer (EC) is one of the most common malignant tumors worldwide. EC is usually diagnosed at a locally advanced stage or at a stage with involvement of lymph nodes. Despite aggressive treatment, the overall five-year survival rate remains poor. microRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding endogenous RNAs that negatively regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional and/or translational level. Accumulating evidence suggests that the deregulation of miRNAs not only results in cancer progression, but also directly promotes tumor initiation. Previous studies found that miRNAs are frequently deregulated in EC, indicating that miRNAs are important in tumorigenesis. In this review, we summarize therecently recognized miRNA expression and its impact on the biology of EC and the potential applications for EC.
Highlights
Esophageal cancer (EC) is one of the most common malignant tumors worldwide
A similar situation was applied to miR-205, which was reported to directly target ErbB3 and vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A), which reduced the level of ErbB3 protein, acting as a potential tumor suppressor by inhibiting proliferation [28]
Typical examples are miR-17-92, which is located at 13q31-32, a region commonly amplified in B-cell lymphoma, and usually upregulated. This gene contributes to the development of the tumor by affecting the cell cycle, apoptosis, angiogenesis and metastasis, which suggests that miR-17-92 may act as an oncogene by regulating the transcription factor E2F1 protein and myc protein [29,30,31,32,33,34]
Summary
The susceptibility of an individual to environmental risk factors is associated with the incidence and prognosis of the tumor. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are not directly responsible for the incidence of a malignancy but they may make an individual susceptible to particular environmental factors. The SNP rs6505162, which is located in the pre-mir423 region, was associated with a reduced risk of EC. A strong correlation was found between the G/C polymorphism (rs2910164) of miR146a and EC risk in a Han population; the GG genotype may cause a significantly increased risk of EC. This locus polymorphism was associated with TNM stage in EC patients [77]. This locus polymorphism was associated with TNM stage in EC patients [77]. miR-200b/200c/429 were upregulated in EC and the SNP site rs1045385 (A or C allele) located in the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of the AP-2α gene, a target gene of the miR-200b/200c/429 family, may decrease the binding of miR-200b/200c/429 to the 3' UTR of AP-2α, which in turn upregulated the AP-2α protein expression [78]
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