Effects of microRNA‑210 on the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer

Hypoxia-Induced Non-Coding RNAs Controlling Cell Viability in Cancer

Hypoxia, a characteristic of the tumour microenvironment, plays a crucial role in cancer progression and therapeutic response. The hypoxia-inducible factors (HIF-1α, HIF-2α, and HIF-3α), are the master regulators in response to low oxygen partial pressure, modulating hypoxic gene expression and signalling transduction pathways. HIFs’ activation is sufficient to change the cell phenotype at multiple levels, by modulating several biological activities from metabolism to the cell cycle and providing the cell with new characteristics that make it more aggressive. In the past few decades, growing numbers of studies have revealed the importance of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) as molecular mediators in the establishment of hypoxic response, playing important roles in regulating hypoxic gene expression at the transcriptional, post-transcriptional, translational, and posttranslational levels. Here, we review recent findings on the different roles of hypoxia-induced ncRNAs in cancer focusing on the data that revealed their involvement in tumour growth.

MiRNA-Based Inspired Approach in Diagnosis of Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is one of the most encountered cancer diseases in men worldwide and in consequence it requires the improvement of therapeutic strategies. For the clinical diagnosis, the standard approach is represented by solid biopsy. From a surgical point of view, this technique represents an invasive procedure that may imply several postoperative complications. To overcome these impediments, many trends are focusing on developing liquid biopsy assays and on implementing them in clinical practice. Liquid samples (blood, urine) are rich in analytes, especially in transcriptomic information provided by genetic markers. Additionally, molecular characterization regarding microRNAs content reveals outstanding prospects in understanding cancer progression mechanisms. Moreover, these analytes have great potential for prostate cancer early detection, more accurate prostate cancer staging and also for decision making respecting therapy schemes. However, there are still questionable topics and more research is needed to standardize liquid biopsy-based techniques.