Abstract
Breast cancer (BC) and colon cancer (CRC) are the two most deadly cancers in the world. These cancers partly share the same genetic background and are partially regulated by the same genes. The outcomes of traditional chemoradiotherapy and surgery remain suboptimal, with high postoperative recurrence and a low survival rate. It is, therefore, urgent to innovate and improve the existing treatment measures. Many studies primarily reported that the microRNA (miRNA) sponge functions of circular RNA (circRNA) in BC and CRC have an indirect relationship between the circRNA–miRNA axis and malignant behaviors. With a covalent ring structure, circRNAs can regulate the expression of target genes in multiple ways, especially by acting as miRNA sponges. Therefore, this review mainly focuses on the roles of circRNAs as miRNA sponges in BC and CRC based on studies over the last three years, thus providing a theoretical reference for finding new therapeutic targets in the future.
Highlights
According to statistics from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization (WHO), breast cancer (BC) is the second most common type of tumor, with about 18.1 million new cases reported worldwide in 2018
Utilizing databases from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), we found that some oncogenes regulate the proliferation and metastasis in both BC and CRC, including BRAF, PIK3CA, erb-b2 receptor tyrosine kinase 2 (ERBB2), TP53, the phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1), erb-b2 receptor tyrosine kinase 3 (ERBB3), the kinase insert domain receptor (KDR) and proteasome 26S subunit ubiquitin receptor, and non-ATPase 4 (PSMD4), suggesting the existence of common regulatory mechanisms between these two cancers
Some studies have shown that many tumor-suppressive circular RNA (circRNA) play significant roles in delaying tumor progression by upregulating the tumor-suppressive genes related to proliferation, apoptosis, invasion, and migration
Summary
According to statistics from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization (WHO), breast cancer (BC) is the second most common type of tumor, with about 18.1 million new cases reported worldwide in 2018. Utilizing databases from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), we found that some oncogenes regulate the proliferation and metastasis in both BC and CRC, including BRAF, PIK3CA, erb-b2 receptor tyrosine kinase 2 (ERBB2), TP53, the phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1), erb-b2 receptor tyrosine kinase 3 (ERBB3), the kinase insert domain receptor (KDR) and proteasome 26S subunit ubiquitin receptor, and non-ATPase 4 (PSMD4), suggesting the existence of common regulatory mechanisms between these two cancers. Using gene-targeted therapy to regulate the proliferation, metastasis, and invasion of BC and CRC tumors may provide new hope in the treatment of these two cancers in the future and have great significance in increasing the survival rate and improving the prognosis of patients
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