Tumor suppressor microRNAs: Targeted molecules and signaling pathways in breast cancer

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women whose prevalence is increasing every year. Common strategies for diagnosis, prognosis and specific treatment of breast cancer need improvements to increase patients’ survival. For this reason, there is growing number of efforts world-wide with molecular approaches. With the advent of microRNAs (miRNAs), they have been interested for almost all aspects of tumorgenesis and correlation of breast cancer and microRNAs was discovered for the first time in 2005. MiRNAs form a group of small noncoding RNAs which participate in regulation of gene expression and subsequently several biological processes and pathogenesis of various diseases. As other cancers, miRNAs involved in breast cancer are classified in two groups: the first group is tumor inducing miRNAs (also called oncomirs) that can induce tumor initiation and progression, and their expression is increased in cancerous cells. The second group is tumor suppressor miRNAs. In normal situation, tumor suppressor miRNAs prevent beginning and progression of breast cancer through suppressing the expression of various oncogenes. In this review we will give a general overview about miRNAs and breast cancer, and in the following, more discussion about tumor suppressor miRNAs, with focus on the best known of them and their targeted oncogenes and signaling pathways. Finally, we will point to application of this group of miRNAs in diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of patients.