Affiliations: [a] Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Yijishan Hospital of Wannan Medical College, Wuhu, Anhui, China
Correspondence:
[*]
Corresponding author: Guohai Zhao, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Yijishan Hospital of Wannan Medical College, West Zheshan Road, Wuhu, Anhui 241001, China. Tel.: +86 553 5739538; Fax: +86 553 5738279; E-mail: zhaoguohai@vip.tom.com
Abstract:
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common types
of cancers worldwide. In spite of much progress in surgery, chemotherapy and
molecular targeted therapy, the mortality rate has only decreased slightly
over the past years. MicroRNAs are 18-25 nucleotide, noncoding RNA molecules
that regulate the translation of many genes. Evidence suggests that miRNAs
may play an important role in a variety of cellular biological processes,
such as cell growth, differentiation, metabolism, invasion, angiogenesis.
Recently, miR-21 is found to be aberrantly expressed in CRC and miR-21 has
been recognized to perform significantly in CRC, where miR-21 can regulate
several different target genes and pathways involving tumor proliferation,
invasion and metastasis. In this study, we will focus on the critical role
of miR-21 in CRC. Hopefully, the information obtained may lead to a better
understanding of the pathogenesis and development of novel therapeutic
strategies for this disease.
