• MicroRNAs as Biomarkers and Therapeutic Targets in Cancer Prevention and Early Detection
  • Ghazal Jebraeeli,1 Saba Safdarpour,2,* Fateme Delbari,3
    1. Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Advanced Science and Technology, Tehran Medical sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
    2. Department of Biology, Faculty of Advanced Science and Technology, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
    3. Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Advanced Science and Technology, Tehran Medical sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.


  • Introduction: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding RNAs of about 18–25 nucleotides that bind to target mRNAs to regulate gene expression, a mechanism essential for controlling cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis, and disruption of this process has been linked to cancer development and tumor progression. The miR-34 family, controlled by the tumor suppressor p53, can stop the cell cycle and induce apoptosis, while the miR-200 family reduces metastatic potential by preventing epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Some miRNAs act as oncogenes by promoting growth and survival pathways, while also modulating key signaling cascades—including PI3K/Akt, Wnt/β-catenin, and Hippo-YAP/TAZ—thereby regulating cancer cell proliferation, survival, and metastasis. MiRNAs are valuable as biomarkers and therapeutic targets due to their high stability, but their levels can be affected by hemolysis and platelet activation, which may compromise measurement accuracy. Circulating and exosomal miRNAs enable the detection of cancer-specific patterns and are linked to prognosis, patient survival, and drug resistance. Moreover, tissue-specific miRNA expression patterns in tumors allow the differentiation of cancerous from non-cancerous tissues, and advanced technologies such as reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction, next-generation sequencing, and microarrays enable accurate identification and quantification of miRNAs, improving early diagnosis and personalized treatment. In addition, miRNAs can predict drug response and determine drug efficacy and the likelihood of cellular resistance, enabling the design of targeted therapies. This study examines the potential of miRNAs as biomarkers and therapeutic targets in cancer prevention, early detection, and management.
  • Methods: We conducted a search on PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Google Scholar using keywords including microRNA (miRNA), biomarkers, therapeutic targets, cancer prevention, and early detection for relevant publications from 2020 to 2025. In total, seven papers were retrieved. After screening titles and abstracts, four were excluded because they did not provide specific information about the role of miRNAs as biomarkers or therapeutic targets in cancer. Finally, three papers were included for detailed review and synthesis. Only English-language publications were considered.
  • Results: In breast cancer, higher levels of miR-210 and miR-141 were linked to an increased risk of disease recurrence and shorter overall survival, and across different cancers, elevated miR-21 and miR-155 were associated with reduced survival and identified as non-invasive prognostic biomarkers. Moreover, in lung cancer, higher levels of miR-21 and miR-486 showed potential as non-invasive diagnostic markers, while in prostate cancer, miR-21 and miR-221 were associated with aggressive disease and poor prognosis. Certain microRNAs, including miR-15a and miR-16-1, can also inhibit cancer growth by targeting the anti-apoptotic gene B-cell lymphoma 2. Therapeutically, antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) were able to inhibit oncogenic miRNAs such as miRNA-23a and miRNA-106b and restore the expression of tumor suppressor genes, reducing tumor growth and increasing sensitivity to chemotherapy in preclinical studies. Phase I clinical trials showed that ASOs, including MRX34 and RG-012, were well tolerated in patients with advanced solid tumors and had promising antitumor effects. Furthermore, small molecule inhibitors suppressed oncogenic pathways and enhanced the processing of tumor suppressor miRNAs by decreasing the transcription of oncogenic miRNAs (such as miR-21) and interfering with their loading onto the RNA-induced silencing complex; a clear example is the effect of Enoxacin through TAR RNA-binding protein 2. Restoring tumor suppressor miRNAs using miRNA mimics or viral vectors can recover their normal function and increase sensitivity to anticancer therapies by inhibiting cancer cell proliferation and reducing tumor growth, as shown by miR-143 and miR-145 in colorectal cancer and miR-34a in glioblastoma. Clinical studies found that miRNA-based strategies, such as MRX34 and MRG-106, can reduce tumor size, improve clinical symptoms, and stabilize disease in patients with solid tumors and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, indicating their potential as novel cancer therapies. Scientists also developed drugs to inhibit or mimic miRNAs, such as MRG-110, SPC3649, and RGLS8429 as inhibitors, and MRG-201 and MRG-229 as mimics.
  • Conclusion: Overall, miRNAs have great potential for cancer prevention, early detection, and treatment, but challenges remain, such as optimizing targeted delivery, increasing stability and half-life, controlling tissue accumulation, and reducing off-target effects. Advances in high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics, together with combined strategies using chemotherapy or immunotherapy, could enable the safe and effective clinical application of these molecules.
  • Keywords: microRNA (miRNA); Biomarkers; Therapeutic Targets; Cancer Prevention; Early Detection.