MicroRNA in Prognosis, Diagnosis and Therapy of Cancer

MicroRNAs have been demonstrated to regulate fundamental cellular processes and, their alteration has been correlated with a variety of human cancers. Due to this, great enthusiasm has been shown in the use of miRNAs as a target in cancer therapy. Although we have made major advances in the understanding of cancer biology and pathogenesis as well as in the development of new targeted therapies, the progress in developing tests for early diagnosis and screening has been inadequate. As a result, most cancers are diagnosed in advanced stages, leading to low survival rate. Intense research today is focused on seeking specific molecular changes that are able to identify patients with early cancer or precursor lesions, for better treatment of patients. Emerging evidence suggests that inhibition of overexpressed oncogenic miRNAs or substitution of tumor suppressive miRNAs could become a novel treatment strategy in cancer therapy.