Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 13
The Application of MicroRNAs in Cancer
Diagnostics
Karina D. Sørensen , Marie S. Ostenfeld , Dennis K. Jeppesen ,
Helle Kristensen , Christa Haldrup , and Torben F. Ørntoft
Abstract
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important biological roles in cancer
development and progression. During the past decade, widespread use of novel
high-throughput technologies for miRNA profiling (e.g., microarrays and next-gen-
eration sequencing) has revealed deregulation of miRNA expression as a common
hallmark of human cancer. Furthermore, miRNAs have been found to be a new
class of promising cancer biomarkers with potential to improve the accuracy of
diagnosis and prognosis in several hematologic and solid malignancies, as well as
to predict response to specific treatments. Recent studies have identified exosome-
associated tumor-derived miRNAs in, e.g., blood samples from cancer patients, sug-
gesting that miRNAs may be useful as circulation biomarkers for noninvasive
diagnostic testing. In this chapter, we review the current state of development of
miRNAs as cancer biomarkers with examples from common human malignancies
and discuss remaining barriers to clinical translation. Finally, we describe new
emerging classes of noncoding RNAs, including long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs),
with potential as cancer biomarkers. Conceivably, these could be used in combina-
tion with miRNAs in molecular diagnostic tests in the future.
K. D. Sørensen (
*
) • M. S. Ostenfeld • D. K. Jeppesen • H. Kristensen
C. Haldrup • T. F. Ørntoft
Department of Molecular Medicine , Aarhus University Hospital ,
Brendstrupgaardsvej 100, 8200 Aarhus N , Denmark
e-mail: karina.dalsgaard@ki.au.dk
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