# MicroRNA-145 in urologic tumors: biological roles, regulatory networks, and clinical translation

## TL;DR

This review explores how microRNA-145 (miR-145) influences urologic cancers like prostate, bladder, and kidney cancers, highlighting its potential as a biomarker and therapeutic target.

## Contribution

The paper systematically summarizes miR-145's roles, targets, and clinical potential in urological tumors, offering insights for precision medicine.

## Key findings

- miR-145 is dysregulated in urologic tumors and linked to cancer proliferation, metastasis, and therapy resistance.
- miR-145 regulates over 60% of protein-coding genes and resides in cancer-associated genomic regions.
- miR-145 shows promise as a non-invasive biomarker and therapeutic agent in prostate, bladder, and kidney cancers.

## Abstract

Tumors of the urinary system primarily encompass prostate, bladder, and kidney cancers, which exhibit high morbidity and mortality rates worldwide and pose a particularly significant threat to men’s health. Given the associated high morbidity and mortality, early diagnosis and effective treatment are crucial. Consequently, innovative research is urgently needed to enhance the clinical care of patients with urologic cancers. Recent studies have demonstrated that microRNAs (miRNAs), as key non-coding RNA molecules that regulate gene expression, play a vital regulatory role in malignant tumor development by binding to the mRNA 3′-UTR region. Large-scale genomic analyses (e.g., TCGA Pan-Cancer Atlas) reveal that over 50% of miRNA genes reside in cancer-associated regions, regulating >60% of protein-coding genes. miR-145 exemplifies this paradigm, with its dysregulation causally linked to tumor proliferation, metastasis, and therapy resistance. Among them, miR-145, as a regulatory molecule with significant anticancer properties, presents unique expression characteristics and functional mechanisms in urological tumours. In this review, we summarize the role of miR-145 in specific urological tumors, along with its downstream target molecules and cells, which may enhance our understanding of miR-145 in these cancers. In conclusion, miR-145 is a multifaceted regulator in urological oncology that has strong potential to range from non-invasive biomarker discovery to therapeutic strategies that work synergistically with conventional treatments, ultimately advancing precision medicine in prostate, bladder, and kidney cancers.