MicroRNAs as Diagnostic and Prognostic Biomarkers in Melanoma and Non-Melanoma Skin Cancers: An Updated Review

Sep 30, 2026

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MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as critical post-transcriptional regulators in melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSCs), yet their full biological and clinical significance remains incompletely defined. This review synthesizes current evidence on miRNA dysregulation across basal cell carcinoma (BCC), cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC), Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), and melanoma, highlighting diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic relevance. It summarizes tumor-vs-normal expression signatures, subtype-specific patterns, and correlations with aggressiveness, metastasis, BRAF status, and resistance, emphasizing the need for standardized methods and large-scale validation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time55 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction—The Role of miRNA in Skin Cancers

Overview of skin cancers and miRNA biology

miRNA biogenesis and regulatory functions

Therapeutic targeting challenges

Review MicroRNAs as Diagnostic and Prognostic Biomarkers in Melanoma and Non-Melanoma Skin Cancers: An Updated Review Alexandra Oiegar 1, Adrian Bogdan Tigu 2, Adrian Baican 1, Elisabeta Candrea 1, Mircea Negrutiu 1 and Sorina Danescu 1, * Academic Editor: Costantino Ricci Received: 22 November 2025 Revised: 17 December 2025 Accepted: 19 December 2025 Published: 23 December 2025 Copyright: © 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. 1 Department of Dermatology,“Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400012 Cluj-Napoca, Romania; [alexandra.oiegar@elearn.umfcluj.ro](alexandra.oiegar@elearn.umfcluj.ro) (A.O.); [negrutiu.mircea.ionut@elearn.umfcluj.ro](negrutiu.mircea.ionut@elearn.umfcluj.ro) (M.N.) 2 Personalized Medicine and Rare Diseases Department, MEDFUTURE—Institute for Biomedical Research,“Iuliu Haieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400012 Cluj-Napoca, Romania * Correspondence: [sorina.danescu@umfcluj.ro](sorina.danescu@umfcluj.ro); Tel.: +40-740-548-807 Abstract MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as critical post-transcriptional regulators in melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSCs), yet their full biological and clinical significance remains incompletely defined. This review synthesizes current evidence on miRNA dysregulation across basal cell carcinoma (BCC), cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC), Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), and melanoma, emphasizing their diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic relevance. In BCC, distinct miRNA expression signatures differentiate tumor tissue from normal skin and correlate with histopathological subtypes. miR-383-5p, miR-4705, miR-145-5p, and miR-18a show strong diagnostic potential, while downregulation of miR-34a is consistently associated with greater tumor aggressiveness. Subtypespecific profiles further delineate superficial versus infiltrative lesions, highlighting miRNAs as markers of tumor behavior. cSCC similarly demonstrates characteristic miRNA alterations. miR-31 is markedly upregulated during the transition from actinic keratosis to invasive carcinoma, whereas high miR-205 and low miR-203 levels correlate with poor and favorable prognosis, respectively. Regarding MCC, many miRNAs such as miR-375 and miR-182 may present a clinical value for potential biomarkers, as they are upregulated in MCC. Merkel cell carcinoma has also been linked with Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) . Melanoma exhibits a complex miRNA landscape, including oncogenic miR-18a-5p and miR-146a, and tumor-suppressive miR-128-3p. Several miRNAs correlate with metastatic potential, BRAF mutation status, and therapeutic resistance, particularly miR-181a/b, underscoring their potential as predictive biomarkers. Overall, current evidence supports miRNAs as promising diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive biomarkers in cutaneous oncology. Standardized methodologies and large-scale validation remain essential for their integration into routine clinical practice. Keywords: microRNA; melanoma; non-melanoma skin cancers; diagnostic; biomarkers 1. Introduction—The Role of miRNA in Skin Cancers The skin functions as a dynamic immune organ in which the interplay between environmental damage, DNA repair mechanisms, and immune surveillance ultimately shapes the risk of malignant transformation [1,2] . Skin cancers currently represent the most common group of malignancies in Caucasian populations [3] . They are broadly categorized as melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSCs) . The NMSC group includes basal cell carcinoma (BCC), cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC), basosquamous carcinoma, Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), Bowen’s disease (BD), and actinic keratosis (AK) . Each entity presents distinct biological features, etiological factors, and prognostic implications. Among these, BCC, cSCC, and MCC are

FAQs

What roles do miRNAs play in skin cancers covered by this review?

MiRNAs function as post-transcriptional regulators that influence key cancer-related processes such as proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation, angiogenesis, immune responses, and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT).

How does the review describe miRNA biomarkers for BCC and cSCC?

For BCC, it highlights miRNA expression signatures distinguishing tumor from normal tissue and associations with aggressiveness and histopathological subtypes. For cSCC, it notes characteristic miRNA alterations, including changes linked to transitions between disease states and prognostic outcomes.

What evidence connections are emphasized for melanoma biomarkers?

The review emphasizes a complex miRNA landscape, including oncogenic and tumor-suppressive miRNAs, and discusses correlations with metastatic potential, BRAF mutation status, and therapeutic resistance, especially for miR-181a/b.

Sep 30, 2026

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