Cancer is one of the most pervasive causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide regardless of the fact that a majority of therapeutic strategies have been constantly invented. The survival rate of cancer patients remains unsatisfactory due to the late diagnosis, frequent metastasis and poor response to chemotherapeutics. Therefore, novel methods with high specificity and susceptibility for prompt diagnosis and precise treatment of cancer are imperative. Circulating RNA is located in bodily fluids, including urine, saliva, breast milk and naturally present in blood. Recently, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), a subset of non-coding RNAs are discovered to be differentially expressed in a variety of cancers. LncRNAs have been broadly recognized as emerging mediators for cancer behavior. Presence of lncRNA in circulation can be cell-free or encapsulated in extracellular vesicles (EVs) released by cancer cells. The release of EVs, especially exosomes, with 40-120 nm diameter in size, has been implicated in the regulation of malignancies as carriers for nucleic acid cargo through intercellular transfer. Therefore, systematic understanding of the role of exosomal lncRNAs in carcinogenesis may offer ideal diagnostic and prognostic biomarker or even therapeutic targets for malignancies. Herein, the underlying functional roles of exosomal lncRNAs in regulating tumor progression, immunomodulation as well as drug resistance will be elaborated. Lastly, the importance of exosomal lncRNAs in cancer study will also be discussed.
Keywords: Cancer; exosomal lncRNAs; exosome; long non-coding RNA; microvesicle.