Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Oncol. Aug 24, 2021; 12(8): 609-622
Published online Aug 24, 2021. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v12.i8.609
Roles of microRNAs in tumorigenesis and metastasis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
Di Cui, Annie LM Cheung
Di Cui, Annie LM Cheung, School of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
Author contributions: Cui D and Cheung ALM contributed to writing, discussion, and critical revision of the article.
Supported by Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong SAR, China, General Research Fund, No. 17111917.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.
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: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Annie LM Cheung, BSc, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, 21 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong 999077, China. lmcheung@hku.hk
Received: January 27, 2021
Peer-review started: January 27, 2021
First decision: May 7, 2021
Revised: May 11, 2021
Accepted: July 22, 2021
Article in press: July 22, 2021
Published online: August 24, 2021
Processing time: 208 Days and 1 Hours
Abstract

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is the major subtype of esophageal cancer that is prevalent in Eastern Asia. Despite recent advances in therapy, the outcome of ESCC patients is still dismal. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding RNAs which can negatively modulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. The involvement and roles of miRNAs have become one of the hot topics of cancer research in recent years. In ESCC, genetic variations within miRNA coding genes were found to have distinct epidemiological significance in different populations. Dysregulated expression of several miRNAs was reported to be associated with therapeutic response. Functionally, miRNAs can act either in an oncogenic or a tumor-suppressive manner during tumorigenesis of ESCC by interrupting signaling pathways associated with cell proliferation, metabolism, cancer stemness, and resistance to chemo- or radiotherapy. Moreover, miRNAs modulate metastasis of ESCC by targeting genes that regulate cytoskeleton dynamics, extracellular matrix remodeling, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and tumor microenvironment. Most importantly, mounting evidence suggests that inhibiting oncogenic miRNAs or restoring the loss of tumor-suppressive miRNAs has therapeutic potential in the treatment of ESCC. Here, we review and discuss recent studies on the significance, biological functions, and therapeutic potential of miRNAs in tumorigenesis and metastasis of ESCC.

Keywords: MicroRNAs; Dysregulation; Tumorigenesis; Metastasis; Therapeutic potential; Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Core Tip: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a deadly disease worldwide. Its poor prognosis is mainly due to the rapid tumor progression and high rate of invasion and metastasis. It is of great importance to understand the mechanisms underlying ESCC tumorigenesis and metastasis. Increasing studies confirmed the involvement of microRNAs (miRNAs) in cancer progression. Dysregulated miRNAs can serve as possible biomarkers for ESCC diagnosis or prognosis evaluation. Moreover, miRNAs function as small post-transcriptional regulators with notable therapeutic value. This review summarizes recent studies on the significance, biological functions, and clinical potential of miRNAs in tumorigenesis and metastasis of ESCC.