MiRNAs in Cervical Cancer Radio- and Chemotherapy Response

Cervical cancer (CC) is a very frequent women disease with high mortality and morbidity incidence worldwide, being the developing countries the most affected. Persistent infection with an oncogenic high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) type is the primary cause of cervical cancer, but other etiologies are needed for complete malignancy such as patient immune response, genetic, and cellular factors, and/or environment. Radiotherapy in combination with cisplatinum is the standard treatment for invasive cervical cancer. Nevertheless, this conventional treatment is restricted due to eventual development of drug resistance and systemic toxicity. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that regulate the expression of protein-coding genes involved in various cellular processes including cancer where they play a very important role in the development and progression of malignancy. As part of this complex disease, miRNAs have been implicated in the process of drug and radiation resistance and sensitivity. Recent studies have been directed to understand how miRNAs under or over-expressed are determinants of clinical response, and other studies have focused to clarify how the process of radio and/or chemotherapy affects miRNA expression. These works could lead to the design of safer and more effective therapy approaches based on miRNA expression and their target regulation