Non-coding RNAs as Colorectal Cancer Biomarkers: Mechanisms of Action and Treatment Options

Dear Colleagues,

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most fatal type of cancer in both men and women globally. CRC is often diagnosed at advanced clinical stages.

Screening program strategies are generally based on 2 approaches: non invasive stool tests (guaiac test and fecal immunochemical test (FIT) being the most common) and physical examinations of the gut (including flexible sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy), these lasts being able to detect both cancer and premalignant lesions but with an invasive, costly and not pleasant approach.

Recently, great progress has been achieved towards the understanding of the molecular basis of CRC, and therefore, a new era in diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic approaches has emerged. Despite the improvement in this direction, there is still an urgent need for new molecular biomarkers in CRC due to the heterogeneous nature of the malignancy.

In the last two decades, non coding RNA (ncRNAs) molecules including microRNAs (miRNAs), tRNA-derived fragments, Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have demonstrated to be optimal candidates for biomarkers for cancer and can be detected also in surrogate tissues and biofluids. ncRNAs are involved in all hallmarks of CRC and constitute a hot research topic.

In this perspective, it would be interesting if such newly characterized biomolecules were further assessed for their potential value as molecular CRC biomarkers and/or therapeutic targets.

This Special Issue focuses on ncRNAs as novel molecular biomarkers in CRC and general approaches which will contribute to further elucidation of the underlying molecular mechanisms. Authors are encouraged to submit their research studies concerning this topic. All studies will be taken into consideration. The Guest Editors are willing to also evaluate manuscripts describing other aspects of CRC pathobiology proposed by the authors. We hope that this Special Issue regarding molecular biomarkers of colorectal cancer will rouse the interest of the readers of this journal.

Dr. Barbara Pardini
Guest Editor

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• Non-coding RNAs
• Colorectal cancer
• microRNAs (miRNAs)
• Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs)
• Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs)
• Small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs)
• Small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs)
• Extracellular RNAs (exRNAs)
• tRNA-derived RNA fragments, tRFs
• Colorectal cancer pathobiology
• Molecular biomarkers
• Colorectal cancer diagnosis and prognosis
• Prediction of therapy selection
• Therapeutic targets