Progress of miRNAs Related to Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer is a malignant tumor with high mortality and strong invasion,meanwhile,lacking of significant breakthroughs in the diagnosis and treatment. The poor prognosis is attributed to many factors,of which the key ones are the late stage when patients are diagnosed,early invasion and metastasis,and resistance to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Recently,more and more researches indicate that the abnormal expression of microRNA(miRNA) is associated with pancreatic cancer. miRNAs are a class of small non-coding RNAs involved in tumor initiation and development via degrading its mRNA or inhibiting its translation to regulate the expression of target gene. The latest studies suggest that the differential expression of miRNA in tumor tissues,blood circulation and other body fluids may contribute to the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer,and both of onco-miRNA and suppressor miRNA play an important role in the tumor proliferation,apoptosis and progression,being expected to be the new therapeutic targets of pancreatic cancer. Therefore,further researches on miRNAs related to diagnosis,treatment and prognosis of pancreatic cancer will give insight into its pathogenesis from a different side and open new avenues for anti-cancer strategies.