Epigenetically regulated microRNAs and their prospect in cancer diagnosis.

Epigenetic alterations have been reported to deregulate the expression of many transcripts, including noncoding RNAs that have no apparent protein-coding capacity. Recently, as the result of numerous studies focused on miRNAs, novel sequencing technologies have made available the transcription profile of the entire human genome. miRNAs as drivers of tumor-suppressive and oncogenic functions have been found to be dysregulated in numerous cancer types. However, the functions of epigenetically regulated genetic elements other than protein-coding genes are still a matter of debate. In this review, the authors focus mainly on describing the epigenetic regulation of miRNAs in cancer. They also discuss the role of miRNAs as potential diagnostic and/or prognostic biomarkers.