Dysregulation of specific microRNAs in pancreatic cancer progression

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most devastating diseases worldwide, especially in developed countries. None of the current medical technologies has shown to be effective in early detection for the reduction of mortality/morbidity associated with this disease. Recently, microRNAs have been implicated in cancer pathogenesis, apoptosis, and cell growth, which suggests their possible function as tumour or oncogene suppressors. Thus, a better understanding of the molecular basis of pancreatic cancer microRNAs (miR) is required for the identification of new therapeutic targets. In this review, a discussion is presented on recent research on microRNAs dysregulation in pancreatic cancer, either by downregulation (miR-96, miR-216, miR-100, miR-183, miR-494, miR-491-4p, miR-217, miR-150, miR-218, miR-145 and miR-23) or upregulation (miR-21, miR-155, miR-191, miR-182 and miR-194 and miR-371). Moreover, it is proposed that, in the future, these microRNAs could be used in early diagnosis for a more effective treatment of this disease.