Potential role of microRNAs in the treatment and diagnosis of cervical cancer

Invasive cervical cancer is a leading cause of cancer death in women worldwide. miRNA may have roles in the pathogenesis of cervical cancer based on the increases or decreases in several specific miRNAs found in patients with this disease. The clinical outcomes of cervical cancer vary significantly and are difficult to predict. One unique challenge in cervical cancer biomarker study is the lack of large amounts of tumor tissues because most cervix biopsies are relatively small. The miRNA can affect HPV DNA replication shed more light on our understanding of the HPV life cycle and the mechanistic underpinnings of HPV induced oncogenesis. Also, miRNA processing proteins may be involved during early cervical cancer development. The E6 and E7 oncoproteins of HPV could induce the overexpression of DNA methyltransferase enzymes, which can catalyze the aberrant methylation of protein-coding and miRNA genes. Methods for diagnosis of cervical cancer include analysis of changes in the levels of specific miRNAs in serum and determination of aberrant hypermethylation of miRNAs. miRNAs are related on drug resistance and may be useful in combination therapy for cervical cancer with other drugs.