Abstract
Ovarian cancer (OC) is the second most common and the most fatal gynecologic cancer in the United States. Over the last decade, various targeted therapeutics have been introduced but there has been no corresponding improvement in patient survival mainly because of the lack of effective early detection methods. microRNAs (miRs) are small, non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression post-transcriptionally. Accumulating data suggest central regulatory roles of miRs in modulating OC initiation, progression, and metastasis. More recently, aberrant miR expression has been also associated with cancer stem cell (CSC) phenotypes and development of CSC chemo-resistance. Here, we review recent advances on miRs and OC metastasis and discuss the concept that miRs are involved in both CSC transformation and subsequent OC metastasis. Finally, we describe the prevalence of circulating miRs and assess their potential utilities as biomarkers for OC diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutics.
Highlights
Ovarian cancer (OC) is the second most common gynecologic cancer and the deadliest malignancy among women in the United States [1]
Metastasis is a multifactorial complex process in which tumor cells gain cancer stem cell (CSC)-like properties and undergo epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) phenotypical changes through degrading Extracellular matrix (ECM) to disseminate into non-adjacent tissues with bloodstream. microRNAs play central roles in initiation, progression, invasion, and metastasis of cancer
While most miR signatures in cancers are involved in both tumor growth and metastasis, there are a few groups of them that were important for tumor metastasis, while exerting no effects on tumor proliferation [46]
Summary
Reviewed by: Santos Mañes, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Spain Vinesh Kumar Thidil Puliyappadamba, University of Alabama, USA. Various targeted therapeutics have been introduced but there has been no corresponding improvement in patient survival mainly because of the lack of effective early detection methods. MicroRNAs (miRs) are small, non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression post-transcriptionally. Aberrant miR expression has been associated with cancer stem cell (CSC) phenotypes and development of CSC chemo-resistance. We review recent advances on miRs and OC metastasis and discuss the concept that miRs are involved in both CSC transformation and subsequent OC metastasis. We describe the prevalence of circulating miRs and assess their potential utilities as biomarkers for OC diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutics
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