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Current Knowledge of miRNAs as Biomarkers in Breast Cancer

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Book cover Recent Trends in Cancer Biology: Spotlight on Signaling Cascades and microRNAs

Abstract

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignancy in women worldwide. Breast cancer related mortality has dropped significantly since the widespread adoption of mammographic screening. Approximately, 5% of the patients with BC carry germline mutations that are responsible for their condition. Women carrying a BRCA 1 or 2 mutation have a 57% and 49% lifetime risk of developing breast cancer, respectively. For BRCA1/2 patients reluctant to a prophylactic surgery, the only risk reducing strategy remains an increased imaging and clinical surveillance. Whereas a closer screening mammogram program is helpful in detecting BC at an earlier stage, no laboratory markers exist. New markers would be helpful in identifying BC, once the mutations are identified, and in monitoring the cancer behavior and response to treatment, once the cancer is diagnosed. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are key regulatory molecules operating in a post-transcriptional level by regulating gene expression. Aberrant miRNA expression was documented in several pathological conditions, including solid tumors, suggesting their involvement in tumorigenesis. MiRNAs can be detected in human fluids and could be used as biomarkers. A different pattern expression of miRNA in biological fluids of BC patients as compared to healthy control is currently under consideration in many clinical trials. The biologic mechanism of miRNAs, a rationale of its use as biomarker in cancer, and a literature review of the most significant results achieved about miRNAS in BC will be reported and discussed in this chapter.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, “Sapienza” University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Maria Luisa Gasparri, Aris Raad Besharat, Ilary Ruscito & Pierluigi Benedetti Panici

  2. Surgical and Medical Department of Translational Medicine, “Sapienza” University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Maria Luisa Gasparri

  3. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospital of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Maria Luisa Gasparri, Konstantinos Nirgianakis, Andrea Papadia & Michael David Mueller

  4. Department of Experimental Medicine, “Sapienza” University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Zein Mersini Besharat & Elisabetta Ferretti

  5. Institute of Biomedical and Genetic Engineering (IBGE), Islamabad, Pakistan

    Ammad Ahmad Farooqi

  6. Neuromed Institute, Pozzilli IS, Italy

    Elisabetta Ferretti

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  1. Maria Luisa Gasparri
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  2. Zein Mersini Besharat
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  3. Aris Raad Besharat
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  4. Ilary Ruscito
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  5. Konstantinos Nirgianakis
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  6. Ammad Ahmad Farooqi
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  7. Andrea Papadia
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  8. Elisabetta Ferretti
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  9. Pierluigi Benedetti Panici
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  10. Michael David Mueller
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Correspondence to Maria Luisa Gasparri .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, Rashid Latif Medical College (RLMC), Lahore, Pakistan

    Sundas Fayyaz

  2. Institute of Biomedical and Genetic Engineering (IBGE), Islamabad, Pakistan

    Ammad Ahmad Farooqi

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Gasparri, M.L. et al. (2018). Current Knowledge of miRNAs as Biomarkers in Breast Cancer. In: Fayyaz, S., Farooqi, A. (eds) Recent Trends in Cancer Biology: Spotlight on Signaling Cascades and microRNAs. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71553-7_12

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