Xi Shi-Jun, Cai Wen-Qi, Wang Qin-Qi, Peng Xiao-Chun
Department of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medicine, Health Science Center, Yangtze University, Jingzhou 434023, Hubei Province, China.
World J Clin Cases. 2021 Dec 6;9(34):10400-10417. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i34.10400.
The incidence of gastrointestinal cancers has increased significantly over the past decade and gastrointestinal malignancies now rank among the leading causes of mortality globally. Although newer therapeutic strategies such as targeted therapies have greatly improved patient outcomes, their clinical success is limited by drug resistance, treatment failure and recurrence of metastatic disease. Therefore, there is an urgent need for further research identifying accurate and reliable biomarkers for precise treatment strategies. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) exhibit a covalently closed structure, high stability and biological conservation, and their expression is associated with the occurrence and development of gastrointestinal tumors. Moreover, circRNAs may significantly influence drug resistance of gastrointestinal cancers. In this article, we review the role of circRNAs in the occurrence and development of gastrointestinal cancer, their association with drug resistance, and potential application for early diagnosis, treatment and prognosis in gastrointestinal malignancies. Furthermore, we summarize characteristics of circRNA, including mechanism of formation and biological effects mRNA sponging, chromatin replication, gene regulation, translational modification, signal transduction, and damage repair. Finally, we discuss whether circRNA-related noninvasive testing may be clinically provided in the future. This review provides new insights for the future development of diagnostics and therapeutics based on circRNAs in gastrointestinal tumors.
在过去十年中，胃肠道癌症的发病率显著上升，目前胃肠道恶性肿瘤位列全球主要死因之中。尽管诸如靶向治疗等新型治疗策略已极大地改善了患者的治疗效果，但其临床成效因耐药性、治疗失败及转移性疾病复发而受限。因此，迫切需要进一步开展研究，以确定用于精准治疗策略的准确且可靠的生物标志物。环状RNA（circRNA）具有共价闭合结构、高稳定性和生物学保守性，其表达与胃肠道肿瘤的发生发展相关。此外，circRNAs可能会显著影响胃肠道癌症的耐药性。在本文中，我们综述了circRNAs在胃肠道癌发生发展中的作用、它们与耐药性的关联，以及在胃肠道恶性肿瘤早期诊断、治疗和预后方面的潜在应用。此外，我们总结了circRNA的特征，包括形成机制和生物学效应，如mRNA海绵作用、染色质复制、基因调控、翻译修饰、信号转导和损伤修复。最后，我们探讨了未来临床上是否可能提供与circRNA相关的非侵入性检测。本综述为基于circRNAs的胃肠道肿瘤诊断和治疗的未来发展提供了新的见解。
