Research progress of miRNAs in diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer / 国际生物医学工程杂志

ABSTRACT

Prostate cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths in adult males, and its morbidity and mortality keep growing year after year. However, the pathogenesis is not understood clearly yet. The development of prostate cancer is a synergistic, multi-gene process. MicroRNA (miRNA), as small ribonucleic acid molecules and a class of non-coding small RNAs, controls the expression of several genes and plays an important role in cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. In recent years, emerging evidence shows that the miRNAs are significantly abnormally expressed in prostate cancer and that they can target multiple signaling pathways involved in the occurrence and progression of prostate cancer, which has important value in the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of prostate cancer. In this paper, the origin, formation, and biological properties of miRNAs, as well as their potential application in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer, were reviewed with the aim of providing an in-depth understanding of prostate cancer from the perspective of molecular biology and new thinking for clinical diagnosis and treatment.