Metastamir: The field of metastasis-regulatory microRNA is spreading

Abstract

Despite advancements in knowledge from more than a century of metastasis research, the genetic programs and molecular mechanisms required for cancermetastasis are still incompletely understood. Genes that specifically regulate the process of metastasis are useful tools to elucidate molecular mechanisms and may become markers and/or targets for antimetastatic therapy. Recently, several noncoding regulatory RNA genes, microRNA (miRNA), were identified, which play roles in various steps of metastasis, some without obvious roles in tumorigenesis. Understanding how these metastasis-associated miRNA, which we term metastamir, are involved in metastasis will help identify possible biomarkers or targets for the most lethal attribute of cancer: metastasis. ©2009 American Association for Cancer Research.