Macro-Role of MicroRNA in Gastric Cancer

Gastric cancer is a heterogeneous disease with currently still unknown mechanisms of development. Besides genetic and epigenetic mechanisms, microRNAs (miRNAs) have recently been discovered as one of the crucial players in gastric carcinogenesis through posttranscriptional regulation of tumor suppressor and oncogenes. A substantial number of deregulated miRNAs have been revealed in gastric cancer and the biological significance of those miRNAs has been confirmed in multiple functional experiments. A growing number of studies suggest involvement of miRNAs in various steps of gastric carcinogenesis: from gastritis toward metastatic disease. Great biological stability of miRNAs opens novel fields in biomarker research with potential clinical implementation in screening, diagnosis, prediction of prognosis and therapeutic management. In this review, we provide the basic knowledge of miRNA biogenesis and discuss extensively the role of miRNAs in gastric carcinogenesis, including Helicobacter pylori-related miRNA alterations and potential translational clinical implementations. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel