AUTHOR=Xiong Guangbing , Pan Shutao , Jin Jikuan , Wang Xiaoxiang , He Ruizhi , Peng Feng , Li Xu , Wang Min , Zheng Jianwei , Zhu Feng , Qin Renyi 

TITLE=Long Noncoding Competing Endogenous RNA Networks in Pancreatic Cancer

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2021.765216

DOI=10.3389/fonc.2021.765216

ISSN=2234-943X

ABSTRACT=Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a highly malignant disease characterized with insidious onset, rapid progresses and poor therapeutic effects. The molecular mechanisms associated with PC initiation and progression are largely insufficient, hampering the exploitation of novel diagnostic biomarkers and development of efficient therapeutic strategies. Evidence emerging recently reveal that noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), including long ncRNAs (lncRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs), extensively participate in PC pathogenesis. Specifically, lncRNAs can function as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs), competitively sequestering miRNAs therefore modulating the expression levels of their downstream target genes. Such complex lncRNA/miRNA/mRNA networks, namely ceRNA networks, play crucial roles in the biological processes of PC, by regulating cell growth and survival, epithelial to mesenchymal transition and metastasis, cancer stem cell maintenance, metabolism, autophagy, chemoresistance, and angiogenesis. In this review, the emerging knowledge of the lncRNA-associated ceRNA networks involved in PC initiation and progression will be summarized and the potentials of the competitive crosstalk as diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic targets will be comprehensively discussed.