The Roles of miRNAs in Human Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is the most common type of cancer in the world, and smoking is the most important cause of lung cancer. Notably, small cell lung cancer accounts for about ۱۵% of all lung cancers, and non-small cell lung cancer accounts for approximately ۸۵% of all new lung cancer diagnoses. Most patients are diagnosed with the disease in advanced stages due to insufficient screening programs and the late onset of clinical symptoms. As a result, patients have a poor prognosis. MicroRNAs are a family of small non-coding RNAs (۲۱-۲۵ nucleotides) that can inhibit mRNA translation and promote mRNA degradation by base-pairing to complementary sites on the target mRNA. Through this mechanism, miRNAs alter gene expression post-transcriptionally. The first non-coding RNA, lin-۴, was identified as a miRNA in Caenorhabditis elegans in ۱۹۹۳. The specific characteristics of miRNAs, including their tissue and even cellular specificity, stability in various biological fluids, and their dysregulation during tumorigenesis, make miRNAs potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets in cancers that should be considered. Given the high toxicity of chemotherapy drugs in human lung cancer, miRNAs could be a more suitable option with lower toxicity. However, more testing and research are needed to improve therapeutic performance and reduce adverse effects on healthy cells so that they can replace chemotherapy drugs with harmful effects on the body. This review aims to investigate the role of microRNA types in the development or prevention of human lung cancer.

کلیدواژه ها:

Apoptosis ، Gene expression ، Lung Neoplasm ، MicroRNAs ، Messenger RNA ، Non-small Cell Lung Carcinoma