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HEREDITAS ›› 2012, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (6): 651-658.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1005.2012.00651

• en •     Next Articles

Extracellular miRNA: a novel molecular biomarker for lung cancer

YANG Li-Hua, DONG Zhuo, GONG Zhao-Hui   

  1. Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Medicine, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China
  • Received:2012-01-12 Revised:2012-03-09 Online:2012-06-20 Published:2012-06-25

Abstract: Though continuous development and progress have been made in the early diagnosis and treatment of cancer, it is still difficult to find a sensitive, accurate and minimally invasive biomarker for cancer diagnosis and treatment. MicroRNA (miRNA) is a class of non-coding small endogenous RNAs of 21-24 nucleotides in length. As a novel molecular biomarker, extracellular miRNA (ec-miRNA) has the potential to be a minimally invasive, highly sensitive and highly specific marker in cancer diagnosis. Many research achievements of ec-miRNA have been accumulated in recent years. In this paper, the origin, function and detection of ec-miRNA, its role in lung cancer diagnosis as a novel molecular biomarker, and some issues are reviewed.

Key words: extracellular microRNA, molecular biomarker, minimally invasive, lung cancer