Application of Isothermal Nucleic Acid Signal Amplification in the Detection of Hepatocellular Carcinoma-Associated MicroRNA

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common type of malignant tumor with high incidence and mortality, and is the third leading cause of cancer-related death in human. High-precision detection of tumor markers, such as microRNA (miRNA), is expected to contribute to the early diagnosis of HCC as well as improve the survival rate of HCC patients. In recent years, great effort has been made to develop different methods to detect HCC-associated miRNA, in which signal amplification strategies are incorporated to realize high sensitivity. Among them, isothermal nucleic acid signal amplification is an emerging signal amplification technology which has the advantages of high amplification efficiency, good reproducibility, and easy operation for real-time analysis. Herein, we provide an overview of the advances in the application of isothermal nucleic acid signal amplification in HCC-associated miRNA detection by highlighting several representative works in recent years.