HISTOLOGY AND HISTOPATHOLOGY

Cellular and Molecular Biology

 

Review

MicroRNA and ovarian cancer

David C. Corney and Alexander Yu. Nikitin

Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA

Offprint requests to: Alexander Yu. Nikitin, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cornell University, T2 014 VRT, Campus Road, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA. e-mail: an58@cornell.edu


Summary. Ovarian cancer remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, with little change in survival rates over the past 30 years. Research in the molecular biology underlying the disease demonstrates frequent mutation in the p53/Rb/p16 tumor suppressor pathways and activation of c-myc, K-ras and Akt oncogenic signaling. Recently, miRNAs have been demonstrated to play an important role in controlling proliferation, apoptosis and many other processes altered in the cancer state. In this review we discuss a number of recent publications that implicate a role for microRNAs in ovarian cancer and assess how this new field may improve our fundamental understanding of the disease and provide improved diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. Histol Histopathol 23, 1161-1169 (2008)

Key words: Carcinogenesis, Epithelial ovarian cancer, MicroRNAs, Mouse models

DOI: 10.14670/HH-23.1161