Tucker D, Zheng W, Zhang DH, Dong X. Circular RNA and its potential as prostate cancer biomarkers. World J Clin Oncol 2020; 11(8): 563-572 [PMID: 32879844 DOI: 10.5306/wjco.v11.i8.563]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Xuesen Dong, PhD, Associate Professor, Senior Scientist, Department of Urologic Sciences, University of British Columbia, No. 2660 Oak Street, Vancouver, BC V6H 3Z6, Canada. xdong@prostatecentre.com
Research Domain of This Article
Urology & Nephrology
Article-Type of This Article
Review
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Dwayne Tucker, Wei Zheng, Xuesen Dong, Department of Urologic Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6H 3Z6, Canada
Wei Zheng, Da-Hong Zhang, Department of Urology, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Hangzhou 310024, Zhejiang Province, China
Author contributions: Tucker D, Zheng W, Zhang DH, and Dong XS developed the concept; Tucker D wrote the manuscript; Zheng W prepared illustration; Zhang DH and Dong XS revised the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflict-of-interest related to this manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xuesen Dong, PhD, Associate Professor, Senior Scientist, Department of Urologic Sciences, University of British Columbia, No. 2660 Oak Street, Vancouver, BC V6H 3Z6, Canada. xdong@prostatecentre.com
Received: December 31, 2019 Peer-review started: December 31, 2019 First decision: March 15, 2020 Revised: June 9, 2020 Accepted: July 19, 2020 Article in press: July 19, 2020 Published online: August 24, 2020
Abstract
Advancing knowledge of the transcriptome has revealed that circular RNAs (circRNAs) are widely expressed and evolutionarily conserved molecules that may serve relevant biological roles. More interesting is the accumulating evidence which demonstrates the implication of circRNAs in diseases, especially cancers. This revelation has helped to form the rationale for many studies exploring their utility as clinical biomarkers. CircRNAs are highly stable due to their unique structures, exhibit some tissue specificity, and are enriched in exosomes, which facilitate their detection in a range of body fluids. These properties make circRNAs ideal candidates for biomarker development in many diseases. This review will outline the discovery, biogenesis, and proposed functions of circRNAs.
Core tip: Circular RNAs are unusually stable RNA molecules that are tissue- and cell lineage-specific, abundantly expressed in cells, and enriched in exosomes. These properties facilitate their detection in different body fluids and probable utility as biomarkers. Herein, we review the literature that investigates their potential as biomarkers for prostate cancer.
