Abstract
Many cancers originate as benign neoplasms that transform into malignant cancerous tumors in a multistep progression that is regulated, in part, by microRNAs. Benign neoplasms, by defi nition, lack the ability to invade adjacent tissues or spread to distant sites through metastasis. The benign to malignant transition is a critical intervention stage as tumors diagnosed in subsequent nonlocalized and malignant stages are exponentially more diffi cult to treat successfully. This chapter explores the critical roles that microRNAs play in the transformation from benign to malignant in four representative cancers: colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor, and prostate cancer. Understanding how these microRNAs control this progression and transformation will lead to new therapeutic targets and diagnostic biomarkers, resulting in improved treatments and patient outcomes.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology |
| Publisher | Springer New York LLC |
| Pages | 1-21 |
| Number of pages | 21 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2015 |
Publication series
| Name | Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology |
|---|---|
| Volume | 889 |
| ISSN (Print) | 0065-2598 |
| ISSN (Electronic) | 2214-8019 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:SS is supported by research grants funded by the American Cancer Society (RSG-13-381-01), the Children’s Cancer Research Fund, the Zach Sobiech Osteosarcoma Fund, and the Karen Wyckoff Rein in Sarcoma Foundation. Due to space restrictions, we could not cite many other significant contributions made by numerous researchers and laboratories in this important and rapidly progressing field.
Publisher Copyright:
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015.
Keywords
- Benign to malignant transformation
- Biomarkers
- Colorectal cancer
- Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor
- MicroRNA
- Pancreatic cancer
- Prostate cancer
