Abstract
Brain tumors are common solid pediatric malignancies and the main reason for cancer-related death in the pediatric setting. Recently, evidence has revealed that noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), including microRNAs (miRNAs), long ncRNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs), play a critical role in brain tumor development and progression. Therefore, in this review article, we describe the functions and molecular mechanisms of ncRNAs in multiple types of cancer, including medulloblastoma, pilocytic astrocytoma, ependymoma, atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor, glioblastoma, diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, and craniopharyngioma. We also mention the limitations of using ncRNAs as therapeutic targets because of the nonspecificity of ncRNA targets and the delivery methods of ncRNAs. Due to the critical role of ncRNAs in brain oncogenesis, targeting aberrantly expressed ncRNAs might be an effective strategy to improve the outcomes of pediatric patients with brain tumors.
Highlights
Brain tumors are the most frequent solid pediatric malignancies and the main cause of cancer-related death in the pediatric setting.[1,2,3] The World Health Organization (WHO) classification of tumors of the central nervous system (CNS) includes diffuse astrocytic and oligodendroglial tumors, other astrocytic tumors, ependymal tumors, other gliomas, choroid plexus tumors, neuronal and mixed neuronal-glial tumors, tumors of the pineal region, embryonal tumors, and tumors of the cranial and paraspinal nerves.[4]
As discussed above, accumulating evidence has clearly supported the involvement of Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) in pathogenesis as oncogenes or tumor suppressors in pediatric neuro-oncology
NcRNAs can better enable researchers to discover molecular markers that help with tumor classification and patient risk stratification combined with other biological characteristics, thereby assisting in standardizing the selection and treatment plans.[221]
Summary
Brain tumors are the most frequent solid pediatric malignancies and the main cause of cancer-related death in the pediatric setting.[1,2,3] The World Health Organization (WHO) classification of tumors of the central nervous system (CNS) includes diffuse astrocytic and oligodendroglial tumors, other astrocytic tumors, ependymal tumors, other gliomas, choroid plexus tumors, neuronal and mixed neuronal-glial tumors, tumors of the pineal region, embryonal tumors, and tumors of the cranial and paraspinal nerves.[4] Medulloblastoma (MB), pilocytic astrocytoma (PA), ependymoma (EPN), and atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor (ATRT) have become important health problems with adverse medical consequences in children.
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