Abstract

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the United States, with African-American (AA) women showing significantly higher rates than Caucasian-American (CA) women do. The reason for this racial disparity remains unknown, and factors that might be responsible for the differences in incidence and mortality have not been identified. One possible factor could be microRNAs (miRs), which are small noncoding regulatory RNAs involved intimately in cancer, and the expression of certain miRs may be decreased or increased in the breast tumors of AA and CA women. Therefore, modulation of miRs using natural agents could lead to the development of a novel therapeutic strategy to treat aggressive forms of breast cancer in women of different racial backgrounds. The function of natural agents in the regulation of miRs has not been investigated extensively. In this review, we will discuss the potential role of naturally occurring agents as potent antitumor agents thought to function by targeting miRs as contributing factors to the disparity in breast cancer between AA and CA women.

Keywords: MicroRNAs, natural agents and breast cancer racial disparity