Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung 813, Taiwan.
Department of Emergency Medicine, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung 813, Taiwan.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019 Apr 29;16(9):1510. doi: 10.3390/ijerph16091510.
Ovarian cancer comprises one of the three major malignant tumor types in the female reproductive system. The mortality rate of this cancer is the highest among all gynecological tumors, with ovarian cancer metastasis constituting an important cause of death. Therefore, markers for disease prediction and prognosis are highly desirable for early diagnosis as well as for helping optimize and personalize treatment. Recently, microRNAs (miRNAs), which consist of short-sequence RNAs that do not encode a protein, have emerged as new biomarkers in the clinical diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer. By pairing with bases specific to the target messenger RNA (mRNA), miRNAs cause degradation of the target mRNA or inhibit its translation, thereby regulating various cellular processes including cell proliferation and adhesion. Increasing numbers of studies have shown that miRNA expression abnormality plays an important role in the development of ovarian cancer. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms of miRNA action, current research regarding their role in the suppression or promotion of ovarian cancer, and their use as markers for diagnosis of prognosis or as therapeutic targets for this disease. Finally, we present future perspectives regarding the clinical management of ovarian cancer and the role for miRNAs therein.
卵巢癌是女性生殖系统三大恶性肿瘤之一。其死亡率在妇科肿瘤中位居首位，卵巢癌转移是导致患者死亡的重要原因之一。因此，寻找疾病预测和预后的标志物对于早期诊断以及帮助优化和个体化治疗至关重要。近年来，微小 RNA（miRNA）作为一种新型生物标志物，逐渐应用于卵巢癌的临床诊断和治疗中。miRNA 是一类不编码蛋白质的短序列 RNA，通过与靶信使 RNA（mRNA）的特定碱基配对，导致靶 mRNA 的降解或翻译抑制，从而调控细胞增殖、黏附等多种细胞过程。越来越多的研究表明，miRNA 表达异常在卵巢癌的发生发展中发挥着重要作用。本文就 miRNA 的作用机制、在卵巢癌发生发展中的抑制或促进作用及其作为诊断和预后标志物或治疗靶点的研究进展进行综述，并对 miRNA 在卵巢癌临床管理中的应用前景进行展望。
