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Review
. 2024 Dec 10;25(24):13271.
doi: 10.3390/ijms252413271.

MicroRNA-Based Liquid Biopsy for Cervical Cancer Diagnostics and Treatment Monitoring

Maria A Kepsha  1 , Angelika V Timofeeva  1 , Vasiliy S Chernyshev  1 , Denis N Silachev  1 , Elena A Mezhevitinova  1 , Gennadiy T Sukhikh  1
Affiliations
Review

MicroRNA-Based Liquid Biopsy for Cervical Cancer Diagnostics and Treatment Monitoring

Maria A Kepsha et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Despite prevention strategies, cervical cancer remains a significant public health issue. Human papillomavirus plays a critical role in its development, and early detection is vital to improve patient outcomes. The incidence of cervical cancer is projected to rise, necessitating better diagnostic tools. Traditional screening methods like the cytological examination and human papillomavirus testing have limitations in sensitivity and reproducibility. Liquid-based cytology offers some improvements, but the need for more reliable and sensitive techniques persists, particularly for detecting precancerous lesions. Liquid biopsy is a non-invasive method that analyzes cancer-derived products in biofluids like blood, offering potential for real-time monitoring of tumor progression, metastasis, and treatment response. It can be based on detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs), circulating free DNA (cfDNA), and microRNAs (miRNAs). This review particularly underlines the potential of microRNAs, which are transported by extracellular vesicles. Overall, this article underscores the importance of continued research into non-invasive diagnostic methods like liquid biopsy to enhance cervical cancer screening and treatment monitoring.

Keywords: biomarkers; cervical cancer; diagnosis; exosomes; extracellular vesicles; miRNA; microRNA; treatment monitoring.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Illustration summarizing the stages of CC progression with comparison to a normal cervix and highlighting biofluids that can potentially be used for liquid biopsy. HPV—human papillomavirus; LSIL—low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions; HSIL—high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions; CTCs—circulating tumor cells; EVs—extracellular vesicles; ccfRNA—cell-free circulating RNA; ccfDNA—cell-free circulating DNA.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Illustration depicting liquid biopsy where blood or cervicovaginal lavage is obtained from a patient to isolate and characterize EVs, miRNA, and/or IncRNA for eventual diagnostics. EVs—extracellular vesicles.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Cellular localization of experimentally validated gene-targets protein products of CC microRNA markers presented in Table 1 and Table 2, generated by the FunRich (Version 3.1, last accessed on 1 September 2024) program.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Organ expression of target genes for CC miRNA markers. Data are generated using the FunRich (Version 3.1, last accessed on 1 September 2024) tool. The red diamonds indicate the main sites of metastasis for the CC.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Molecular function of gene-targets protein products for CC miRNA markers. Data are generated using the FunRich (Version 3.1, last accessed on 1 September 2024) tool.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Signaling pathways formed by gene-targets protein products for CC miRNA markers. Data are generated by using the FunRich (Version 3.1, last accessed on 1 September 2024) tool.
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