J Cancer 2018; 9(4):638-649. doi:10.7150/jca.21180 This issue Cite
Review
1. Department of Surgery and Medical Surgical Specialties, Medicine and Dentistry School, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Health Research Institute of Santiago (IDIS); Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
2. Liquid Biopsy Analysis Unit, Translational Medical Oncology, Health Research Institute of Santiago (IDIS), CIBERONC, Complexo Hospitalario Universitario de Santiago de Compostela (SERGAS), Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
3. Cell Cycle and Cancer Lab, Biomedical Research Group in Gynecology, Vall Hebron Research Institute (VHIR), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain.
4. Medical Digestive Service, Complexo Hospitalario Universitario de Santiago de Compostela (SERGAS); Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
5. Department of Gynecology Oncology, Vall d'Hebron University Hospital, Barcelona, Spain.
Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as excellent candidates for cancer biomarkers. Several recent studies have highlighted the potential use of saliva for the identification of miRNAs as novel biomarkers, which represents a great opportunity to improve diagnosis and monitor general health and disease. This review summarises the mechanisms of miRNAs deregulation in cancer, the value of targeting them with a therapeutic intention and the evidence of the potential clinical use of miRNAs expressed in saliva for the detection of different cancer types. We also provide a comprehensive review of the different methods for normalising the levels of specific miRNAs present in saliva, as this is a critical step in their analysis, and the challenge to validate salivary miRNAs as a reality to manage cancer patients.
Keywords: miRNAs, saliva, cancer, normalization, biomarkers, liquid biopsy