Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) accounts for 3% of adult malignancies and more than 90% of kidney neoplasms. High rates of undiagnostic percutaneous kidney biopsies and difficulties in reliable pre-operative differentiation between malignant and benign renal tumors using contemporary imaging techniques result in large numbers of redundant surgeries. Absence of specific biomarkers for early detection and monitoring complicates on-time diagnosis of the disease and relapse. For the patients followed up after having a nephrectomy, a noninvasive and sensitive biomarker enabling early detection of disease relapse would be extremely useful.
The study is a review of recent knowledge regarding potential clinical applications of microRNAs (miRNAs) as biomarkers of RCC.
MicroRNAs are essential regulators of various processes such as cell proliferation, differentiation, development and death; they have been implicated in diverse biological and pathological processes in RCC. There is a class of miRNAs that promote RCC development (oncomirs) and a class of miRNAs that negatively regulate oncogenes, suppress tumor growth and invasion, and thus could be considered treatment agents (anti-oncomirs). Separate miRNAs and specific miRNAs expression profiles have been identified, enabling early detection of the disease, prediction of response to systemic therapy, or prognostication of biological behavior of the disease.
The miRNA network analysis and gene profiling may help to identify the most sensible molecular signatures of RCC that can be used for diagnostic purposes, as well as poor prognosis signatures and poor therapeutic response signatures in patients who undergo systemic therapy.
Central European journal of urology. 2018 Jul 02 [Epub]
Yulian Mytsyk, Victor Dosenko, Michał Andrzej Skrzypczyk, Yuriy Borys, Yuriy Diychuk, Askold Kucher, Vasyl Kowalskyy, Serhyi Pasichnyk, Oleh Mytsyk, Lubov Manyuk
Department of Urology, Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University, Lviv, Ukraine., General and Molecular Pathophysiology Department, Bogomoletz Institute of Physiology of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kiev, Ukraine., Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education in Warsaw, Department of Urology, Warsaw, Poland., Department of Urology, Lviv State Regional Oncology Treatment and Diagnostic Center, Lviv, Ukraine., Lviv Regional Bureau of Forensic Services, Lviv, Ukraine., Department of Foreign Languages, Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University, Lviv, Ukraine.