Role of microRNAs in Stomach Adenocarcinoma

Stomach Adenocarcinoma commonly abbreviated as STAD has emerged as the second leading cause of cancer deaths around the globe. Statistics suggest that stomach cancer, which is the fifth most common type of cancer, is presented as Stomach Adenocarcinoma in 90 % of the total stomach cancer cases. The incident rates of the cancer varies according to different geographic locations, the highest incident rate is observed in Asian countries like Japan, China etc. While there has been a steady improvement in the incident rates of STAD over the past few years, the mechanism of the exact pathway has not yet been clearly understood. The development of targeted clinical therapy necessitates the precise understanding of the pathway. MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNAs, generally about 22 nucleotides long. These non-coding RNAs recognize and bind to their target RNA which then results in inhibition of translation of mRNA or its degradation. The emerging role of microRNA in various diseases such as Huntington’s disease, Bipolar Disease and Parkinson’s Disease etc. has attracted the attention of the scientists. Their active role in apoptosis, cell differentiation, cell growth and even carcinogenesis has clipped the attention of the researchers and efforts are constantly being put in to establish a relation (if any) between various kinds of cancers and the regulation of microRNAs. Experimental data has proved the up regulation or down regulation of microRNAs in various cancers of breast, prostate, colon, pancreas and even stomach. Through this paper we will review the role of various microRNAs in Stomach Adenocarcinoma.