Status of diagnosis and treatment of esophageal cancer and non-coding RNA correlation research: a narrative review

OBJECTIVE: To describe and discuss the progression of the non-coding RNA as biomarkers in early esophageal cancer. BACKGROUND: Esophageal cancer without obvious symptoms during early stages is one of the most common cancers, the current clinical treatments offer possibilities of a cure, but the survival rates and the prognoses remain poor, it is a serious threat to human life and health. Most patients are usually diagnosed during terminal stages due to low sensitivity of esophageal cancer’s early detection techniques. With the development of molecular biology, an increasing number of non-coding RNAs are found to be associated with the occurrence, development, and prognosis of esophageal cancer. Some of these have begun to be used in clinics and laboratories for diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis, with the goal of reducing mortality. METHODS: The information for this paper was collected from a variety of sources, including a search of the keynote’s references, a search for texts in college libraries, and discussions with experts in the field of esophageal cancer clinical treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Non-coding RNA does play a regulatory role in the development of esophageal cancer, which can predict the occurrence or prognosis of tumors, and become a new class of tumor markers and therapeutic targets in clinical applications. In this review, we survey the recent developments in the incidence, diagnosis, and treatment of esophageal cancer, especially with new research progresses on non-coding RNA biomarkers in detail, and discuss its potential clinical applications.