Role of microRNAs in tumor progression among Iranian population: An overview

Abstract

Cancer is one of the main health challenges in the world with a noticeable global mortality rate. It has been reported that there is a rising trend of cancer incidence among Iranians during the recent decades. Various factors are associated with tumorigenesis such as environment, genetic, and epigenetic. Epigenetic is heritable transcriptional changes without DNA alterations which are exerted through DNA methylation, chromatin modifications, and noncoding RNA profiles. Aberrant epigenetic changes are commonly observed in early stages of neoplastic transformation. Since majority of cancer related deaths are related to the late diagnosis and lack of an efficient early detection method, it is required to introduce novel early detection methods. MicroRNAs are secreted into the body fluids and are stable for a long-term storage. Therefore, stability and easy detection in body fluids makes microRNAs as ideal and less invasive biomarkers of early detection in cancer. In present review we summarized all of the significant reported miRNAs in different tumor types until now among Iranian population to pave the way for introducing a general population based non coding panel of markers for the early detection of cancers in this population. © 2022 Elsevier B.V