MicroRNAs-based Therapy: A Novel and Promising Strategy for Cancer Treatment

Abstract

MicroRNAs are short non-coding RNAs involved in critical biological processes. In the past decade, the deregulation of miRNAs has been well-documented in a wide range of human diseases, including cancer. Overexpression and downregulation of miRNAs affect cellular pathways that contribute to carcinogenesis and tumor progression. This evidence makes miRNAs a suitable candidate for therapeutic applications and leads to developing strategies to manipulate their expression. Consistently, in vitro and in vivo studies show that Let-7, miR-10b, miR-21, miR-34, miR-155 and miR-221 are promising targets to develop miRNAs-based therapy for human malignancies. The purpose of this review is to discuss the different approaches that can be used to restore or reduce miRNAs expression in human cancer and the therapeutic implications.

Keywords: AntimiRNAs; Let-7; MiR-10b; MiR-155; MiR-21; MiR-221; MiR-34; cancer therapy; miRNA therapeutic; miRNA mimics; tumor.