Non-coding RNAs as clinical biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and prognosis

Developing more precise diagnostics approaches to predict cancer progression and prognosis is the key to precision medicine. Overwhelming evidence now suggests that small non-coding RNAs such as miRNAs can be useful tools as biomarkers for molecular diagnostics. miRNAs can serve as biomarkers in a variety of diseases, such as neurological disorders, cardiovascular disease, Type II diabetes, cancer and so on. miRNAs can not only be utilized for monitoring treatment but also for patient stratification and hence are promising predictive biomarkers in cancer progression and prognosis, as well as in predicting drug response. This article focuses on some of the recent findings in the field of miRNA biomarkers and discusses its implications for cancer diagnostics and precision medicine.