Wei QY, Jin F, Wang ZY, Li BJ, Cao WB, Sun ZY, Mo SJ. MicroRNAs: A novel signature in the metastasis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. World J Gastroenterol 2024; 30(11): 1497-1523 [PMID: 38617454 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v30.i11.1497]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Sai-Jun Mo, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Basic Science of Oncology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, No. 100 Science Avenue, Zhongyuan District, Zhengzhou 450001, Henan Province, China. sjmo@zzu.edu.cn
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Review
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Qi-Ying Wei, Feng Jin, Bing-Jie Li, Wen-Bo Cao, Department of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, Henan Province, China
Zhong-Yu Wang, Department of Perioperative Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, Henan Province, China
Zhi-Yan Sun, Division of Special Service, Department of Basic Oncology, School of Basic Medicine, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, Henan Province, China
Sai-Jun Mo, Department of Basic Science of Oncology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, Henan Province, China
Co-first authors: Qi-Ying Wei and Feng Jin.
Author contributions: Wei QY, Jin F and Mo SJ wrote this manuscript and created figures; Wang ZY, Li BJ, Cao WB, and Sun ZY consulted and analysis literature, and created tables; Wei QY and Jin F contributed equally to this work.
Supported byFoundation of Henan Educational Committee, No. 22A310024; and Natural Science Foundation for Young Teachers' Basic Research of Zhengzhou University, No. JC202035025.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Mo SJ has nothing to disclose.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Sai-Jun Mo, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Basic Science of Oncology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, No. 100 Science Avenue, Zhongyuan District, Zhengzhou 450001, Henan Province, China. sjmo@zzu.edu.cn
Received: December 13, 2023 Peer-review started: December 13, 2023 First decision: December 28, 2023 Revised: January 12, 2024 Accepted: March 1, 2024 Article in press: March 1, 2024 Published online: March 21, 2024 Processing time: 99 Days and 0.7 Hours
Abstract
Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a malignant epithelial tumor, characterized by squamous cell differentiation, it is the sixth leading cause of cancer-related deaths globally. The increased mortality rate of ESCC patients is predominantly due to the advanced stage of the disease when discovered, coupled with higher risk of metastasis, which is an exceedingly malignant characteristic of cancer, frequently leading to a high mortality rate. Unfortunately, there is currently no specific and effective marker to predict and treat metastasis in ESCC. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNA molecules, approximately 22 nucleotides in length. miRNAs are vital in modulating gene expression and serve pivotal regulatory roles in the occurrence, progression, and prognosis of cancer. Here, we have examined the literature to highlight the intimate correlations between miRNAs and ESCC metastasis, and show that ESCC metastasis is predominantly regulated or regulated by genetic and epigenetic factors. This review proposes a potential role for miRNAs as diagnostic and therapeutic biomarkers for metastasis in ESCC metastasis, with the ultimate aim of reducing the mortality rate among patients with ESCC.
Core Tip: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is the sixth leading cause of cancer-related deaths globally predominantly due to metastasis. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), acting either as tumor suppressors or oncogenes, play crucial roles in the development and progression of tumors. We herein discussed the intimate correlations between miRNAs and ESCC metastasis, predominantly associated with genetic and epigenetic regulatory, and aimed to propose the potential role of miRNAs as diagnostic and therapeutic biomarkers for ESCC metastasis.
