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Profiling cell-free and circulating miRNA: a clinical diagnostic tool for different cancers

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  • Published:
Tumor Biology

Abstract

Effective cancer management depends on early diagnosis and treatment. There are several microRNAs (miRNAs) which are used for detection of various cancers. Cell-free and circulating miRNAs originate from plasma, either from blood cells or endothelial cells. Cell-free and circulating miRNAs are very much important in the diagnosis and prognosis of cancer therapy. Admittedly, biological knowledge of extracellular miRNAs is still at its preliminary level. Recent discoveries of novel cell-free and circulating miRNAs from the body fluids are now being considered as important biomarkers that may help us in the early diagnosis of any cancer. In the present review, we highlight the biogenesis of miRNAs and their current extracellular pattern, the discovery of circulating miRNA, significant advantages, and different profiling techniques. Finally, we discuss the different circulating miRNAs such as miR-21, miR-20a, miR-155, miR‑221, miR-210, miR-218, miR-200-family, miR-141, miR-122, miR-486-5p, miR‑423-5p, miR-29a, and miR-500 for clinical diagnosis of various cancers. The present review may be beneficial for future researches concerned with miRNAs which are used for detection of various cancers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Bioinformatics, School of Computer and Information Sciences, Galgotias University, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Chiranjib Chakraborty

  2. Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Jalan Yaacob Latif, Bandar Tun Razak, 56000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Srijit Das

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  1. Chiranjib Chakraborty
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  2. Srijit Das
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Correspondence to Chiranjib Chakraborty or Srijit Das.

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Chakraborty, C., Das, S. Profiling cell-free and circulating miRNA: a clinical diagnostic tool for different cancers. Tumor Biol. 37, 5705–5714 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-016-4907-3

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