ncRNA as Diagnostics and Prognostics for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common form of primary liver cancer, is the sixth most common cancer in the world with an estimated over half a million new cases annually. Due to the difficulty in early diagnosis, poor prognosis and lack of effective treatment options, HCC is currently ranked as the second most common neoplastic-related death with a significantly low 5-year survival rate of 6–11 % worldwide. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are genes that are frequently transcribed without protein-coding ability. Two major subsets of ncRNAs, microRNAs (miRNA) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA), are considered essential components at multiple levels in gene regulation processes including transcription, post-transcription and translation. The aberrant expression of ncRNAs has been shown to play an important role in many diseases including HCC. ncRNAs are abundant and stable; these fundamental characteristics make them candidates as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers with wide reaching potential. Here we review the current status of diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic biomarkers for HCC.