miRNA in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Pathogenesis and Therapeutic Approaches.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a worldwide disease. Because therapeutic measures are ineffective, HCC currently has a poor prognosis. The main causes of HCCs are alcoholism, hepatitis, and metabolic syndrome. Normally hygieinic studies revealed that there is lower survival rate of HCC. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) consist of short noncoding sequences of RNA (20 to 24 nucleotides), which posttranscriptionally regulate the expression of the protein coding genes. MicroRNAs have been proposed to be prospective therapeutic molecules and targets. For testing miRNA-based therapies, HCC is a remarkable model because it may be targeted by delivery of oligonucleotides. Current studies show a beginning for analyzing the therapeutic prospects of miRNAs or anti-miRNAs. Generally, antitumor activity of miRNAs has been observed.