Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies, which accounts for 90% of primary liver cancer. HCC usually presents with poor outcomes due to the high rates of tumor recurrence and widespread metastasis. However, the underlying mechanism of HCC initiation and progression, which significantly hindered the development of valid approaches for early detection and treatment remain to be elucidated. As a group of small non-coding RNAs, microRNAs (miRNAs) have been demonstrated to be involved in many types of diseases especially human malignancies. Numerous miRNAs are deregulated in HCC, which may shed some light on current investigations. Since miRNAs are stable and detected easily, their ectopic expression has been reported in HCC tissues, serum/plasma and cell lines. As previously described, miRNAs serve as tumor suppressors or oncogenes, indicating that miRNAs may be useful as diagnostic, therapeutic and prognostic markers of HCC. In the present review, we assessed the latest data regarding dysregulated miRNAs in HCC and reviewed the reported functions of these miRNAs as they apply to the diagnosis and prognosis of HCC.
Highlights
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies, which accounts for 90% of primary liver cancer
The multiple roles of miRNAs in the initiation and progression of human cancer have been well established. miRNAs are commonly dysregulated in tumor tissues and act as oncogenes or tumor suppressors, respectively. miRNAs are able to manipulate tumor proliferation, migration, invasion, metastasis, angiogenesis, cell cycle progression, apoptosis and autophagy
We demonstrated that miR-224 can promote migration and invasion in HCC cells by targeting the homeobox D10 (HOXD10) gene [47]
Summary
MiRNAs are widely used in many areas of cancer, especially in HCC, including the early diagnosis, prognosis prediction, follow-up monitoring and target therapies. MiRNAs have important effects on HCC; miRNA-based therapies pose a significant challenge for HCC treatment. Investigations regarding miRNAs cannot yet be applied in the clinic. More well-designed studies are required to focus on their translational values in the future. The accuracy of miRNA detection needs to be further improved to avoid variations in the technical procedures. More large randomized prospective clinical trials are required for the application of miRNAs to assess their potential efficacy in HCC treatment, especially for the radiotherapy of HCC
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