title: Circulating microRNAs: molecular microsensors in gastrointestinal cancer.
abstract: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small molecules of single strand non-coding RNAs, which are able to regulate gene expression. miRNAs have been involved in multiple cellular processes, such as proliferation, apoptosis and differentiation, thus alterations in miRNA expression have been shown to be directly linked with the pathological origin of multiple diseases, including cancer. In this way, during last few years, an increasing number of exciting advances have contributed to the understanding of miRNA roles in cancer. Moreover, researchers have exploited the special characteristics of miRNAs, such as the tissue and disease specificity or miRNA presence in blood, to explore their use as non-invasive tumour markers. In the present review, we summarize the current data on the potential usefulness of circulating miRNAs as diagnostic and prognostic tools in gastrointestinal tumours.
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Research Institute of A Coruña, As Xubias 84, E-15006 A Coruña, Spain. Moises.Blanco.Calvo@sergas.es
authors.forename: Moisés
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Blanco-Calvo
authors.forename: Lourdes
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Calvo
authors.forename: Angélica
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Figueroa
authors.forename: Mar
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haz-Conde
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Antón-Aparicio
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Valladares-Ayerbes
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood; D005770:Gastrointestinal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D035683:MicroRNAs