The Emerging Value of Circular Noncoding RNA Research in Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment

Abstract Circular RNAs (circRNA) are a recently described class of RNA molecules that have attracted substantial attention as new components of disease mechanisms and as potential biomarkers in multiple diseases, including cancer. CircRNAs are often highly conserved and exhibit developmental stage- and disease-specific expression. Several studies have reported circRNA expression patterns that are associated with specific cancer types and with patient prognosis. Here, we overview the active registered clinical trials that investigate the value of circRNAs as cancer biomarkers and discuss the potential of circRNAs in clinical cancer care. Taken together, circRNAs are actively being investigated as diagnostic, predictive, and prognostic biomarkers, and their potential to serve as therapeutic intervention points motivates ongoing translational and clinical research.