The prodigious network of chromosome 17 miRNAs regulating cancer genes that influence the hallmarks of cancer

Chromosome 17 (Chr17) harbors crucial genes that encode proteins implicated in a variety of cancers, including some that guard cancer cells from genomic instability and others that interfere with metastasis. Included amongst the genes on chr17 that regulate biological processes fundamental to the genesis of cancer are TP53, BRCA1, CCL5, NF-1, and GRB7. As many as 50% of all human tumors and at least 30% of breast carcinomas contain p53 mutations, while 30%-40% of breast cancers have defective BRCA1. A large number of proteins regulate the expression of these cancer genes on chr17 with miRNAs, the most widely studied class of regulatory RNAs, playing a major role in epigenetically controlling the gene expression programs, thereby managing various cellular functions. This review provides information on the genes transcribed from chr17, and their regulation by miRNAs in the context to tumorigenesis located on chr17, along with an analysis of the receptor status (estrogen, progesterone, and Her2/Neu) from the miRNA prediction data of miRNA genes located on chr17.