The Emerging Role of MicroRNA 122 in Intracellular Signaling Interactions of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the main primary liver cancer and represents the fifth cause of cancer in males, the seventh in females, and is considered the third reason of cancer-related death around the world. The last decade has witnessed a huge ascent in the frequency of HCC, with particularly high incidence reported in Egypt.

Chemotherapy is an important therapeutic option for the treatment of tumors. Doxorubicin is the most effective cytotoxic drug for treatment of HCC. Nevertheless, the clinical outcome of HCC is still poor, which can be attributed to the frequent occurrence of resistance to various chemotherapeutic agents that permits cancerous cells to proliferate uncontrollably and to become more aggressive with a greater ability to metastasize to other organs. Alterations in drug efflux were considered one of the primary causes of multidrug resistance (MDR). Especially, the overexpression of ABC (ATP-binding cassette) super family of transporters is firmly connected to chemoresistance. Likewise, activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway was accompanied with MDR in HCC.

Many studies have affirmed the significance of microRNAs (miRNAs)