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Updated: Sep 28, 2025
08:25
Identification of Circular RNAs using RNA Sequencing
Published on: November 14, 2019
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Circular RNAs and thyroid cancer: Closed molecules, open possibilities
Boris M Shifman1, Nadezhda M Platonova1, Evgeny V Vasilyev1
1Endocrinology Research Centre, Moscow, Russia.
Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology
|March 28, 2022
Summary
Circular RNAs show promise for diagnosing thyroid cancer, offering a potential solution to the limitations of fine-needle aspiration biopsy. Further research into these molecules could improve diagnostic accuracy and treatment strategies for thyroid neoplasms.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Molecular Biology
- Genetics
Background:
- Thyroid neoplasms are common, with diagnosis often relying on fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB).
- FNAB cytology has limitations, particularly in indeterminate cases (Bethesda system), leading to potential misdiagnosis and unnecessary surgeries.
- Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are emerging as key players in thyroid oncogenesis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review current data on the association between circRNAs and thyroid cancer.
- To explore the potential of circRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers for thyroid neoplasms.
- To discuss how circRNA expression analysis can improve thyroid cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of studies investigating circRNAs in thyroid cancer.
- Analysis of circRNA expression patterns in thyroid tissues, blood, and exosomes.
- Evaluation of circRNAs as potential diagnostic and prognostic markers.
Main Results:
- Altered expression of various circRNAs is observed in thyroid cancer.
- circRNAs show potential as biomarkers in tissue, blood, and exosomes for detecting thyroid cancer.
- Specific circRNA expression profiles may correlate with clinicopathological features of thyroid cancer.
Conclusions:
- circRNAs represent a novel class of biomarkers for thyroid cancer diagnosis.
- Assessing circRNA expression could enhance the accuracy of diagnosing indeterminate thyroid nodules.
- circRNA-based approaches may lead to more precise treatment decisions for thyroid cancer patients.
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