Role of microRNA in predictingclinical efficacy of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for rectal cancer

Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NCRT) has become the standard treatment for patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). However, the response to NCRT varies among LARC patients and a subset of patients show resistance to NCRT. NCRT may delay the timing of surgery and even reduce the overall survival. Therefore, it is of significance to identify biomarkers for predicting the clinical efficacy of NCRT, screen patients who are resistant to NCRT and perform surgery as early as possible, eventually establishing an individualized therapeutic strategy. MicroRNAs are a class of small non-coding RNAs that post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression, which areinvolved in multiple signaling pathways and DNA damage repair process and affect the radiosensitivity of rectal cancer cells. Many recent studies have evaluated the role of microRNA in predicting the response to NCRT. The purpose of this article is to review the research progress and validate the role of microRNA in predicting the clinical efficacy of NCRT for rectal cancer. Key words: Rectal neoplasm/neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy; MicroRNA; Predict