Tumorigenesis and progression are complex process with multifarious molecules and related mechanisms, while most of them are still elusive. Most research into the mechanisms of cancer today are focusing on encoding RNAs. However, for the past few years as the emergence and development of epigenetics, a kind of new molecule: non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), RNAs without protein-coding function, have gained prominence in recent scientific discussions. Since the first ncRNA was discovered in 1990s, extensive research has shown that ncRNAs significantly influence processes such as cell growth, differentiation, metabolic regulation, and programmed cell death at both transcriptional and post-transcriptional stages. By means of acting as the tumor suppression and oncogenesis, research has identified several ncRNAs with abnormal expression patterns in cancer cells, marking them as primary oncogenic factors or valuable targets in cancer treatment. This review focus on three kinds of ncRNA, MicroRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs), the molecule structure, generative mechanism, characteristic function and regulatory mechanism in tumor progression. In addition, we will discuss the application value and future expiration of the therapeutic that are focusing on ncRNA, that will open up a new idea and methods for the treatment of cancer for future investigation.
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