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Review
. 2022 Nov 7;13(11):2054.
doi: 10.3390/genes13112054.

The Potential of MicroRNAs as Clinical Biomarkers to Aid Ovarian Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment

Molly Davies  1 , Matthew G Davey  1 , Nicola Miller  1
Affiliations
Review

The Potential of MicroRNAs as Clinical Biomarkers to Aid Ovarian Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment

Molly Davies et al. Genes (Basel). .

Abstract

Ovarian cancer is a commonly diagnosed malignancy in women. When diagnosed at an early stage, survival outcomes are favourable for the vast majority, with up to 90% of ovarian cancer patients being free of disease at 5 years follow-up. Unfortunately, ovarian cancer is typically diagnosed at an advanced stage due to the majority of patients remaining asymptomatic until the cancer has metastasised, resulting in poor outcomes for the majority. While the molecular era has facilitated the subclassification of the disease into distinct clinical subtypes, ovarian cancer remains managed and treated as a single disease entity. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small (19-25 nucleotides), endogenous molecules which are integral to regulating gene expression. Aberrant miRNA expression profiles have been described in several cancers, and have been implicated to be useful biomarkers which may aid cancer diagnostics and treatment. Several preliminary studies have identified candidate tumour suppressor and oncogenic miRNAs which may be involved in the development and progression of ovarian cancer, highlighting their candidacy as oncological biomarkers; understanding the mechanisms by which these miRNAs regulate the key processes involved in oncogenesis can improve our overall understanding of cancer development and identify novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets. This review highlights the potential role of miRNAs which may be utilised to aid diagnosis, estimate prognosis and enhance therapeutic strategies in the management of primary ovarian cancer.

Keywords: biomarkers; miRNA; non-coding RNA; ovarian cancer; personalised medicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(A) Schematic of normal biogenesis and function of miRNAs. (B) Summary of miRNA-based therapeutic strategies and mechanisms of delivery to cells. Created with BioRender.com.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Grants and funding

M.D. received funding from the Health Research Board Ireland, M.D. and M.G.D. received funding from the National Breast Cancer Research Institute Ireland.