Chou Chen-Kai, Liu Rue-Tusan, Kang Hong-Yo
Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung City 833, Taiwan.
Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Sciences, Chang Gung University, Kaohsiung City 833, Taiwan.
Int J Mol Sci. 2017 Mar 15;18(3):636. doi: 10.3390/ijms18030636.
Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is the most common tumor subtype of thyroid cancer. However, not all PTCs are responsive to current surgical and radioiodine treatment. The well-established clinical prognostic factors include tumor size, lymph node/distal metastasis, and extrathyroidal invasion. The /PTC-- linear molecular signaling cascade is known to mediate PTC pathogenesis. However, whether presence of mutation, the most common genetic alteration in PTC, can affect PTC behavior and prognosis is controversial. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been labeled as promising molecular prognostic markers in several tumor types. Our recent studies demonstrated that microRNA-146b (miR-146b) deregulation is associated with PTC aggressiveness and prognosis. Here we summarize the current knowledge related to the functional roles, regulated target genes, and clinical applications of miR-146b in PTC and discuss how these studies provide insights into the key role of miR-146b as an oncogenic regulator promoting cellular transformation as well as a prognosis marker for tumor recurrence in PTC. In conjunction with the current perspectives on miRNAs in a wide variety of human cancers, this review will hopefully translate these updated findings on miR-146b into more comprehensive diagnostic or prognostic information regarding treatment in PTC patients before surgical intervention and follow up strategies.
甲状腺乳头状癌（PTC）是甲状腺癌最常见的肿瘤亚型。然而，并非所有PTC都对目前的手术和放射性碘治疗有反应。公认的临床预后因素包括肿瘤大小、淋巴结/远处转移和甲状腺外侵犯。已知/PTC--线性分子信号级联介导PTC发病机制。然而，PTC中最常见的基因改变——突变的存在是否会影响PTC的行为和预后仍存在争议。在几种肿瘤类型中，微小RNA（miRNA）已被视为有前景的分子预后标志物。我们最近的研究表明，微小RNA-146b（miR-146b）失调与PTC的侵袭性和预后相关。在此，我们总结了目前与miR-146b在PTC中的功能作用、调控的靶基因及临床应用相关的知识，并讨论这些研究如何深入揭示miR-146b作为一种致癌调节因子促进细胞转化以及作为PTC肿瘤复发预后标志物的关键作用。结合目前对多种人类癌症中miRNA的观点，本综述有望将这些关于miR-146b的最新发现转化为更全面的诊断或预后信息，用于指导PTC患者手术干预前的治疗及后续随访策略。
