An overview of long non-coding RNAs in ovarian cancers

As with miRNAs a decade ago, the scientific community recently understood that lncRNAs represent a new layer of complexity in the regulation of gene expression. Although only a subset of lncRNAs has been functionally characterized, it is clear that they are deeply involved in the most critical physiological and pathological biological processes. This review shows that in ovarian carcinoma, data already available testify to the importance of lncRNAs and that the demonstration of an ever-growing role of lncRNAs in the biology of this malignancy can be expected from future studies. We also underline the importance of their relationship with associated protein partners and miRNAs. Together, the available information suggests that the emerging field of lncRNAs will pave the way for a better understanding of ovarian cancer biology and might lead to the development of innovative therapeutic approaches. Moreover, lncRNAs expression signatures either alone or in combination with other types of markers (miRNAs, mRNAs, proteins) could prove useful to predict outcome or treatment follow-up in order to improve the therapeutic care of ovarian carcinoma patients.