Human Papillomavirus Infections, Cervical Cancer and MicroRNAs: An Overview and Implications for Public Health

Roles of microRNA-486-5p in the diagnosis and the association with clinical symptoms of cervical cancer

Aim: To explore the predictive value of miR-486-5p in early cervical cancer and the associations of miR-486-5p with different clinical symptoms.Materials & methods: A total of 185 women were recruited. The relative expression levels of serum miR-486-5p were analyzed by real-time polymerase chain reaction. The receiver operator characteristic curves were utilized to reflect the predictive performance of miR-486-5p and squamous cell carcinoma antigen for early cervical cancer. Univariate logistic regression and ranked logistic regression were used to explore the associations of miR-486-5p with different clinical symptoms of early cervical cancer, with odd ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals.Results: Eighty-one women (44.26%) had early cervical cancer. The relative expression of serum miR-486-5p was 1.99-fold higher in early cervical cancer patients than that in controls (p < 0.0001). The predictive performance of miR-486-5p for early cervical cancer was significantly superior to that of squamous cell carcinoma antigen, with an area under the curve of 0.865 (p < 0.001), sensitivity of 1.000 and specificity of 0.804. In addition, overexpressed miR-486-5p was associated with high odds of maximum tumor diameter increase (OR = 1.30, 95% CI: [1.01-1.66]).Conclusion: MiR-486-5p may be a potential biomarker for the early cervical cancer diagnosis, and was linked to the risk of maximum tumor diameter.

Therapeutic Strategies in Advanced Cervical Cancer Detection, Prevention and Treatment

Cervical cancer is ranked the fourth most common cause of cancer related deaths amongst women. The situation is particularly dire in low to lower middle-income countries. It continues to affect these countries due to poor vaccine coverage and screening. Cervical cancer is mostly detected in the advanced stages leading to poor outcomes. This review focuses on the progress made to date to improve early detection and targeted therapy using both circulating RNA. Vaccine has played a major role in cervical cancer control in vaccinated young woman in mainly developed countries yet in low-income countries with challenges of 3 dose vaccination affordability, cervical cancer continues to be the second most deadly amongst women. In this review, we show the progress made in reducing cervical cancer using vaccination that in combination with other treatments that might improve survival in cervical cancer. We further show with both miRNA and siRNA that targeted therapy and specific markers might be ideal for early detection of cervical cancer in low-income countries. These markers are either upregulated or down regulated in cancer providing clue to the stage of the cancer.

Research on the expression of Mir-218-2 in the serum of patients with papillary thyroid cancer and its clinical significance

Papillary thyroid carcinoma is an epithelial malignancy with follicular cell differentiation and sets of defined nuclear features and appearance of an irregular solid mass. The main objective of our study is to research on the expression of miR-218-2 in the serum of patients with papillary thyroid cancer and its clinical significance. Our study involved patients with thyroid nodules were divided into a capitate cancer group (N = 100) and a benign nodule group (N =100). Lastly, 50 cases of healthy individuals were used as controls. The total sample size was 250. All cases were clinically diagnosed and underwent histopathological examinations at the Tonglu County Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine between January 2023 and January 2024. Quantitative RT-PCR was used to assess the expression levels of miR-218-2 and its host gene SLIT3 in normal and cancer thyroid tissues. We found that 45% of tumour sizes were less than 1 cm with 90% of tumours did not infiltrate the glandular capsule, implying a favourable prognosis. Lastly, 85% of tumours were well differentiated with about 75% showing no metastasis while 60% of TNM stage were classified as stage I. Also, miR-218-2 and its host gene SLIT3 are significantly down-regulated in papillary thyroid carcinoma. The inhibitory effects of miR-218-2 act in synergy with its host gene SLIT3 to alter the rates of cell invasion, cell migration and cell proliferation. Our findings have clinical significance on the involvement of miR-218-2 and SLIT3. There exists a functional relationship between host genes and intronic miRNAs in the tumorigenesis of thyroid cancers.

The potential of urine for human papillomavirus-related cervical cancer prevention

Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable cancers. The introduction of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines and the adaptation of regular screening programs are key actions that need to be generalized globally to achieve the goal of cervical cancer elimination. However, it is still challenging to achieve satisfactory coverage rate, and many women are reluctant to participate in gynecologic examination. In this article, we review the research on the application of HPV detection in urine samples for cervical cancer screening and vaccine monitoring, as well as discuss the technical challenges and new technological advancements in urine-based tests. HPV detection in urine is an excellent noninvasive alternative that is widely accepted by women, relatively affordable, and provides the potential to reach women without the necessity for clinical visits. Thus, it is an attractive tool for both cervical cancer screening and vaccine monitoring.

Cervical cancer development, chemoresistance, and therapy: a snapshot of involvement of microRNA

Cervical cancer (CC) is one of the leading causes of death in women due to cancer and a major concern in the developing world. Persistent human papilloma virus (HPV) infection is the major causative agent for CC. Besides HPV infection, genetic and epigenetic factors including microRNA (miRNA) also contribute to the malignant transformation. Earlier studies have revealed that miRNAs participate in cell proliferation, invasion and metastasis, angiogenesis, and chemoresistance processes by binding and inversely regulating the target oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes. Based on functions and mechanistic insights, miRNAs have been identified as cellular modulators that have an enormous role in diagnosis, prognosis, and cancer therapy. Signatures of miRNA could be used as diagnostic markers which are necessary for early diagnosis and management of CC. The therapeutic potential of miRNAs has been shown in CC; however, more comprehensive clinical trials are required for the clinical translation of miRNA-based diagnostics and therapeutics. Understanding the molecular mechanism of miRNAs and their target genes has been useful to develop miRNA-based therapeutic strategies for CC and overcome chemoresistance. In this review, we summarize the role of miRNAs in the development, progression, and metastasis of CC as well as chemoresistance. Further, we discuss the diagnostic and therapeutic potential of miRNAs to overcome chemoresistance and treatment of CC.

The Involvement of Natural Polyphenols in the Chemoprevention of Cervical Cancer

From all types of cancer, cervical cancer manages to be in top four most frequent types, with a 6.5% rate of occurrence. The infectious vector that induces the disease, the high-risk Human papillomavirus (HPV), which is a sexually transmitted virus, is capable of transforming the host cell by modulating some of the principal signaling pathways responsible for cell cycle arrest, proliferation, and survival. Fortunately, like other cancer types, cervical cancer can be treated by chirurgical interventions or chemoradiotherapy, but these methods are not exactly the lucky clover of modern medicine because of the adverse effects they have. That is the reason why in the last years the emphasis has been on alternative medicine, more specifically on phytochemicals, as a substantial number of studies showed that diet contributes to cancer prevention and treatment. All these studies are trying to find new chemopreventive agents with less toxicity but high effectiveness both in vitro and in vivo. The aim of this review is to evaluate the literature in order to underline the advantages and disadvantages of polyphenols, a class of dietary compounds, as chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic agents. This review also aims to present polyphenols from different perspectives, starting with mechanisms of action and ending with their toxicity. The bigger picture illustrates that polyphenols have great potential in cervical cancer prevention, with strong effects on gene modulation.

Identification of miRNA-mRNA Regulatory Network and Construction of Prognostic Signature in Cervical Cancer

Cervical cancer (CC) remains a most prevalent female cancer worldwide, but there are few biomarkers used in diagnosis and prognosis of CC. The aim of this study is to find reliable and effective biomarkers regarding CC development. Microarray datasets were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database to search potential miRNA-mRNA in CC. The gene ontology term enrichment and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses were conducted to reveal the underlying functions and pathways of differently expressed genes (DEGs). Univariate Cox, multivariate Cox, and risk scoring methods were performed to identify a prognostic model. A total of 209 DEGs of CC were identified. In the protein-protein interaction network, hub module, and hub genes were recognized. Based on DEGs, three small molecules (thioguanosine, apigenin, and trichostatin A) were screened out as potential drugs. Two miRNAs (hsa-mir-101-3p and hsa-mir-6507-5p) and some transcription factors were found to be associated with prognosis of CC. A five-candidate gene signature (APOBEC3B, DSG2, CXCL8, ABCA8, and PLAGL1) was constructed to stratify risk subgroups for patients with CC. The risk score of the prognostic model was also found to be associated with immune cells infiltration, including mast cell activation, natural killer cells resting, dendritic cells resting, T cells regulatory (Tregs), and T cells follicular helper. The miRNA-mRNA regulatory network and the prognostic model are of great clinical significance in promoting prognosis prediction and treatment of CC.