Tian Tian, Zhao Yangzhi, Zheng Jingying, Jin Shunzi, Liu Zhongshan, Wang Tiejun
Department of Radiation Oncology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130041, China.
Department of Hematology, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130021, China.
Mol Ther Nucleic Acids. 2021 Jul 2;26:63-80. doi: 10.1016/j.omtn.2021.06.017. eCollection 2021 Dec 3.
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), which is the most malignant subtype of breast cancer (BC), accounts for 10%-20% of all BC cases. TNBC, which occurs more frequently in young women, is characterized by high rates of cell proliferation and metastasis and poor prognosis. Chemotherapy is the primary systemic therapeutic strategy for TNBC. However, chemotherapy is largely unsuccessful, and effective targeted therapies for TNBC have not been established. Therefore, it is a matter of great urgency to identify precise molecular targets for the promising prognosis of patients with TNBC. Circular RNAs (circRNAs), which are a type of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), are abundantly expressed in the eukaryotic cells and exhibit diverse cellular functions. The roles of circRNAs are to sponge microRNA or RNA-binding proteins, regulate gene expression, and serve as templates for translation. Here, we review the current findings on the potential of circRNAs as a diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic biomarker for TNBC. However, further studies are essential to elucidate the functions of circRNAs in TNBC. This review also discusses the current limitations and future directions of TNBC-associated circRNAs, which can facilitate the translation of experimental research into clinical application.
三阴性乳腺癌（TNBC）是乳腺癌（BC）中最具侵袭性的亚型，占所有BC病例的10%-20%。TNBC在年轻女性中更为常见，其特点是细胞增殖和转移率高，预后较差。化疗是TNBC的主要全身治疗策略。然而，化疗在很大程度上并不成功，尚未建立针对TNBC的有效靶向治疗方法。因此，确定TNBC患者预后的精确分子靶点迫在眉睫。环状RNA（circRNAs）是一类非编码RNA（ncRNAs），在真核细胞中大量表达，并具有多种细胞功能。circRNAs的作用是充当微小RNA或RNA结合蛋白的海绵，调节基因表达，并作为翻译模板。在此，我们综述了circRNAs作为TNBC诊断、预后和治疗生物标志物潜力的当前研究结果。然而，进一步研究对于阐明circRNAs在TNBC中的功能至关重要。本综述还讨论了TNBC相关circRNAs的当前局限性和未来方向，这有助于将实验研究转化为临床应用。
