Liquid biopsy-the determination of circulating cells, proteins, DNA or RNA from biofluids through a "less invasive" approach-has emerged as a novel approach in all cancer entities. Circulating non-(protein) coding RNAs including microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and YRNAs can be passively released by tissue or cell damage or actively secreted as cell-free circulating RNAs, bound to lipoproteins or carried by exosomes. In renal cell carcinoma (RCC), a growing body of evidence suggests circulating non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) such as miRNAs, lncRNAs, and YRNAs as promising and easily accessible blood-based biomarkers for the early diagnosis of RCC as well as for the prediction of prognosis and treatment response. In addition, circulating ncRNAs could also play a role in RCC pathogenesis and progression. This review gives an overview over the current study landscape of circulating ncRNAs and their involvement in RCC pathogenesis as well as their potential utility as future biomarkers in RCC diagnosis and treatment.
Frontiers in cell and developmental biology. 2020 Sep 15*** epublish ***
Dominik A Barth, Rares Drula, Leonie Ott, Linda Fabris, Ondrej Slaby, George A Calin, Martin Pichler
Research Unit of Non-Coding RNAs and Genome Editing, Division of Clinical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Comprehensive Cancer Center Graz, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria., Department of Translational Molecular Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States., Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czechia.