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ABSTRACT
Introduction: Bodily fluids like serum and plasma contain significant amounts of tumor-derived circulating cell-free RNA, which holds the potential to serve as diagnostic biomarker. Consequently, liquid biopsies comprising circulating cell-free RNA might help to facilitate personalized treatment strategies for patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC).
Areas covered: The present review provides a summary of the literature obtained by a PubMed search and covers the current knowledge on circulating non-coding cell-free RNA in patients with RCC.
Expert commentary: Altered circulating microRNA and long non-coding RNAs signatures allow for the discrimination of patients with RCC and healthy individuals. On the other hand, little is known about non-coding RNA expression in benign tumors. Cell-free microRNA expression levels may help to identify patients at risk for disease recurrence. However, accurate determination of cell-free RNAs is methodologically challenging and currently no biomarker candidate has reached a sufficient level of clinical validation. Thus, short-term implementation of cell-free circulating microRNA into clinical routine seems unlikely.
Declaration of interest
The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.