Emerging roles of circular RNAs in the invasion and metastasis of head and neck cancer: Possible functions and mechanisms

• Published in: Cancer innovation (Print) Vol. 2; no. 6; pp. 463 - 487
• Main Authors: Tang, Shouyi, Cai, Luyao, Wang, Zhen, Pan, Dan, Wang, Qing, Shen, Yingqiang, Zhou, Yu, Chen, Qianming
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.12.2023; John Wiley and Sons Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: circRNA; Epidemiology; Head & neck cancer; head and neck cancer; invasion; Kinases; metastsais; Review; Reviews; Thyroid cancer; metastsais; circRNA; head and neck cancer; invasion
• ISSN: 2770-9183; 2770-9191; 2770-9183
• DOI: 10.1002/cai2.50

Head and neck cancer (HNC) is the seventh most prevalent malignancy worldwide in 2020. Cancer metastasis is the main cause of poor prognosis in HNC patients. Recently, circular RNAs (circRNAs), initially thought to have no biological function, are attracting increasing attention, and their crucial roles in mediating HNC metastasis are being extensively investigated. Existing studies have shown that circRNAs primarily function through miRNA sponges, transcriptional regulation, interacting with RNA‐binding proteins (RBPs) and as translation templates. Among these functions, the function of miRNA sponge is the most prominent. In this review, we summarized the reported circRNAs involved in HNC metastasis, aiming to elucidate the regulatory relationship between circRNAs and HNC metastasis. Furthermore, we summarized the latest advances in the epidemiological information of HNC metastasis and the tumor metastasis theories, the biogenesis, characterization and functional mechanisms of circRNAs, and their potential clinical applications. Although the research on circRNAs is still in its infancy, circRNAs are expected to serve as prognostic markers and effective therapeutic targets to inhibit HNC metastasis and significantly improve the prognosis of HNC patients. This review outlines the critical roles of circular RNAs (circRNAs) in the invasion and metastasis of head and neck cancer (HNC). circRNAs mainly act on the epithelial‐mesenchymal transition, cancer stem cells, and autophagy, thereby affecting HNC metastasis. Furthermore, lung and lymph nodes are the most common sites of HNC metastasis.