Perspective of MiRNAs in Clinical Glioblastoma Research

Pioneer works have identified some microRNAs (miRNAs) with oncogenic or tumor-suppressive properties in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), an aggressive brain tumor with dismal prognosis. Differential expression of these noncoding small RNA in cancers positions them as attractive biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutic decision in GBMs. In addition, abnormal miRNAs provide new interesting therapeutic targets for clinical GBM treatments despite the hurdles associated with such an approach. This review firstly summarizes abnormal expressed genes and upstream miRNAs in GBMs. Next, our focus will be towards the signature of miRNAs in GBM, and discuss the importance of circulating miRNAs for cancer diagnosis. Finally, we summarize present miRNA target therapeutic strategies, and discuss the deficiencies and challenges.