Expression profiles, biological functions and clinical significance of circRNAs in bladder cancer

Circular RNAs (circRNAs), which are single-stranded closed-loop RNA molecules lacking terminal 5′ caps and 3′ poly(A) tails, are attracting increasing scientific attention for their crucial regulatory roles in the occurrence and development of various diseases. With the rapid development of high-throughput sequencing technologies, increasing numbers of differentially expressed circRNAs have been identified in bladder cancer (BCa) via exploration of the expression profiles of BCa and normal tissues and cell lines. CircRNAs are critically involved in BCa biological behaviours, including cell proliferation, tumour growth suppression, cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, invasion, migration, metastasis, angiogenesis, and cisplatin chemoresistance. Most of the studied circRNAs in BCa regulate cancer biological behaviours via miRNA sponging regulatory mechanisms. CircRNAs have been reported to be significantly associated with many clinicopathologic characteristics of BCa, including tumour size, grade, differentiation, and stage; lymph node metastasis; tumour numbers; distant metastasis; invasion; and recurrence. Moreover, circRNA expression levels can be used to predict BCa patients’ survival parameters, such as overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and progression-free survival (PFS). The abundance, conservation, stability, specificity and detectability of circRNAs render them potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for BCa. Additionally, circRNAs play crucial regulatory roles upstream of various signalling pathways related to BCa carcinogenesis and progression, reflecting their potential as therapeutic targets for BCa. Herein, we briefly summarize the expression profiles, biological functions and mechanisms of circRNAs and the potential clinical applications of these molecules for BCa diagnosis, prognosis, and targeted therapy. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12943-020-01300-8.