Tiny RNA has big impact on lung cancer tumors Posted December 7,
2009on: Researchers from Yale University and Mirna Therapeutics,
Inc., reversed the growth of lung tumors in mice using a
naturally occurring tumor suppressor microRNA. The study reveals
that a tiny bit of RNA may one day play a big role in cancer
treatment, and provides hope for future patients battling one of
the most prevalent and difficult to treat cancers. “This is the
first time anybody has shown a positive effect of microRNAs in
shrinking lung cancer,” said Frank Slack, Ph.D., co-senior
author of the paper, researcher at the Yale Cancer Center and
professor of molecular, cellular & developmental biology. The
tumors in mice with non-small cell lung cancer shrank after the
Yale team delivered an intranasal dose containing a type of
micro-RNA called let-7, the authors reported in the Dec. 7 issue
of the journal Oncogene. MicroRNAs are small bits of genetic
material most often associated with transmission of information
encoded in DNA. Howeve