title: Clinical implications of miRNAs in the pathogenesis, diagnosis and therapy of pancreatic cancer.
abstract: Despite considerable progress being made in understanding pancreatic cancer (PC) pathogenesis, it still remains the 10th most often diagnosed malignancy in the world and 4th leading cause of cancer related deaths in the United States with a five year survival rate of only 6%. The aggressive nature, lack of early diagnostic and prognostic markers, late clinical presentation, and limited efficacy of existing treatment regimens make PC a lethal cancer with high mortality and poor prognosis. Therefore, novel reliable biomarkers and molecular targets are urgently needed to combat this deadly disease. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short (19-24 nucleotides) non-coding RNA molecules implicated in the regulation of gene expression at post-transcriptional level and play significant roles in various physiological and pathological conditions. Aberrant expression of miRNAs has been reported in several cancers including PC and is implicated in PC pathogenesis and progression, suggesting their utility in diagnosis, prognosis and therapy. In this review, we summarize the role of several miRNAs that regulate various oncogenes (KRAS) and tumor suppressor genes (p53, p16, SMAD4, etc.) involved in PC development, their prospective roles as diagnostic and prognostic markers and as a therapeutic targets.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 69198, USA. Electronic address: srachagani@unmc.edu.
authors.forename: Satyanarayana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rachagani
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 69198, USA.
authors.forename: Muzafar A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Macha
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 69198, USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Heimann
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 69198, USA.
authors.forename: Parthasarathy
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Seshacharyulu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 69198, USA.
authors.forename: Dhanya
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Haridas
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 69198, USA.
authors.forename: Seema
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chugh
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 69198, USA; Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases, Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 69198, USA. Electronic address: sbatra@unmc.edu.
authors.forename: Surinder K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Batra
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics*; D018450:Disease Progression; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000628:therapy; D011379:Prognosis; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: Diagnosis; Pancreatic cancer; Pathogenesis; Therapy; miRNA