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Review
. 2020 Dec 31;22(1):346.
doi: 10.3390/ijms22010346.

Circulating Exosomal miRNAs as Biomarkers for the Diagnosis and Prognosis of Colorectal Cancer

Katiusse Alves Dos Santos  1   2 , Isabelle Cristina Clemente Dos Santos  1   2 , Carollyne Santos Silva  2 , Hériks Gomes Ribeiro  2 , Igor de Farias Domingos  1   3 , Vivian Nogueira Silbiger  2   3
Affiliations
Review

Circulating Exosomal miRNAs as Biomarkers for the Diagnosis and Prognosis of Colorectal Cancer

Katiusse Alves Dos Santos et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignant tumors in the gastrointestinal tract. It is a multifactorial disease that involves environmental factors, genetic factors, and lifestyle factors. Due to the absence of specific and sensitive biomarkers, CRC patients are usually diagnosed at an advanced stage and consequently suffer from a low 5-year overall survival rate. Despite improvements in surgical resection and adjuvant chemotherapy, the prognosis of patients with CRC remains unfavorable due to local and distant metastases. Several studies have shown that small noncoding RNAs, such as microRNAs packed in exosomes, are potential biomarkers in various types of cancers, including CRC, and that they can be detected in a stable form in both serum and plasma. In this review, we report the potential of circulating exosomal miRNAs to act as biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of CRC.

Keywords: biomarkers; circulating; colorectal cancer; exosomal; miRNAs.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicting interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Circulating exosomal microRNAs (miRNAs) and their role in the diagnosis, prognosis, surveillance, and monitoring of colorectal cancer (CRC) metastatic disease.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Flowchart of the study selection process.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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