Studies examining the oncogenic or tumor suppressive functions of dysregulated microRNAs (miRs) in cancer cells may also identify novel miR targets, which can themselves serve as therapeutic targets.
The heterogeneity of tumor specimens and research methods limits the reproducibility of changes in miR expression profiles between studies and underscores the importance of in vivo validation in a field that utilizes in silico miR target-prediction models.
To our knowledge, this is the first report describing miR expression patterns and pathway analysis in sporadic adrenocortical tumors. miR biomarkers may be helpful for the diagnosis of adrenocortical malignancy.