Tumor-suppressing miRNAs

A team of U.S. researchers has identified a microRNA that could play a role as a tumor suppressor in hepatocellular carcinoma.¹ The molecule significantly reduced tumor burden in murine liver cancer models, but delivery and specificity hurdles remain before the compound is ready for the clinic.

Over the past five years, multiple labs have found that virtually all cancers are associated with altered miRNA expression profiles compared with those of healthy tissue. Some cancers are linked to overexpression of miRNAs in tumor tissue, whereas other cancers display abnormal downregulation of one or more miRNAs.^2,3...