Department of Biotherapy, West China Hospital and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, Sichuan University, No. 37 GuoXue Alley, Chengdu 610041, China; West China School of Medicine, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 37 GuoXue Alley, Chengdu 610041, China.
Laboratory of Tumor Targeted and Immune Therapy, Clinical Research Center for Breast Disease, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 37 GuoXue Alley, Chengdu 610041, China.
Semin Cancer Biol. 2022 Nov;86(Pt 3):237-250. doi: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2022.03.024. Epub 2022 Mar 30.
Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a highly aggressive cancer of the neuroendocrine system, characterized by poor differentiation, rapid growth, and poor overall survival (OS) of patients. Despite the recent advances in the treatment of SCLC recently, the 2-year survival rate of patients with the cancer is only 14-15%, occasioned by the acquired resistance to drugs and serious off-target effects. In humans, the coding region is only 2% of the total genome, and 20% of that is associated with human diseases. Beyond the coding genome are RNAs, promoters, enhancers, and other intricate elements. The non-coding regulatory regions, mainly the non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), regulate numerous biological activities including cell proliferation, metastasis, and drug resistance. As such, they are potential diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers, and also potential therapeutic targets for SCLC. Therefore, understanding how non-coding elements regulate SCLC development and progression holds significant clinical implications. Herein, we summarized the recent discoveries on the relationship between the non-coding elements including long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA), microRNAs (miRNAs), circular RNA (circRNA), enhancers as well as promotors, and the pathogenesis of SCLC and their potential clinical applications.
小细胞肺癌（SCLC）是一种高度侵袭性的神经内分泌系统癌症，其特征是分化差、生长迅速和患者总体生存率（OS）低。尽管最近 SCLC 的治疗取得了进展，但该癌症患者的 2 年生存率仅为 14-15%，这是由于对药物的获得性耐药和严重的脱靶效应所致。在人类中，编码区仅占基因组的 2%，其中 20%与人类疾病有关。编码基因组之外是 RNA、启动子、增强子和其他复杂的元件。非编码调控区，主要是非编码 RNA（ncRNA），调控着包括细胞增殖、转移和耐药性在内的多种生物学活动。因此，它们是潜在的诊断或预后生物标志物，也是 SCLC 的潜在治疗靶点。因此，了解非编码元件如何调节 SCLC 的发生和发展具有重要的临床意义。在此，我们总结了最近关于非编码元件（包括长非编码 RNA（lncRNA）、microRNAs（miRNAs）、环状 RNA（circRNA）、增强子以及启动子）与 SCLC 发病机制及其潜在临床应用之间关系的发现。
