Abstract
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are well established as global gene regulators and thus, slight alterations in miRNA levels as well as their ability to regulate their targets may cause important cellular changes leading to cancer risk. 3´ untranslated region (UTR) miRNA binding site single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have added another layer of possible genetic variation involved in the complex process of oncogenesis. Identifying these key genetically inherited effectors of miRNA functioning has improved our understanding of the complexity of disease. Interest in the field has grown rapidly in only the last 5 years, with several studies reporting on the role of 3´UTR binding site SNPs as genetic markers of increased cancer susceptibility, as well as biomarkers of cancer type, outcome and response to therapy. Currently, there are numerous known miRNA binding site SNPs associated with multiple cancer subtypes.
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Financial Disclosure/Acknowledgements
Joanne Weidhaas is a co-founder of a company, MiraDx, that has licenced intellectual property related to the KRAS-variant. Joanne Weidhaas is supported by K08 (CA124484) and R01 (CA131301–01A1) from the NIH. The authors have no other 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 apart from those disclosed.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.