The Roles of Non-Coding RNAs in Solid Tumors

Non-coding RNAs are functional RNA molecules not translated into protein. There are now different types of non-coding RNAs which have been identified and characterized: 1. Small non-coding (snc) RNAs, 10-40 nucleotides in length. 2. Long non-coding (lnc) RNA, more than several hundreds nucleotides. Recently, a numerous paper has convinced that miRNAs, the largest group of sncRNAs, play a crucial role in tumorigenesis and cancer metastasis. Unlike sncRNAs, the functions of lncRNAs are not well understood although considerable amounts of lncRNAs are expressed in human genome.