MicroRNAs: Promising Molecules against Resistance to Breast Cancer Therapeutic Drugs

Introduction and background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are single- stranded non-coding RNAs which could be considered as one requirement for development of personalized medicine. MiRNAs act as gene expression regulators in post-transcriptional level by binding to 3’untranslated region of the target genes. In this study, we introduce recent progresses in miRNA-associated chemoresistance studies which are the most common and serious problem in cancer treatment. Methods: In this narrative review, a comprehensive search of PubMed database was carried out with the following Mesh term search using keyword: microRNA along with keywords: breast cancer treatment and drug resistance. Published data have been included since 2008 findings until September 2017, in the study. The inclusion criteria for the study were: all studies that introduced new microRNA associated with chemoresistance in breast cancer treatment.Results: The final list consisted of 68 papers in respected journals that focus on chemoresistance in breast cancer treatment which were published in recent ten years conduct a comprehensive view of miRNAs associated with the response to chemotherapy in breast cancer. Discussion and Conclusion: These findings illustrate that miRNA expression signatures play key role in development of drug resistance and consequently, breast cancer progression. These non-coding RNAs could mediate resistance to current breast cancer chemotherapy drugs such as doxorubicin, paclitaxel (Taxol), cisplatin, tamoxifen with control of various indispensable biological processes such as survival, cell cycle, apoptosis, gene regulation and histone modification. Here, we highlight the specific miRNAs involved in breast cancer resistance to treatment and targeted therapy. Moreover, this review critically assesses the challenges and opportunities of targeting miRNAs for emerging unique and more effective individualized therapies, improving the efficiency of drug, and for predicting patient response, monitoring their treatment and survival in breast cancer chemotherapy.

Keywords:

Breast cancer , MicroRNAs , Chemoresistance , Personalized medicine