Ricerc@Sapienza

.Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women worldwide, and ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecological
malignancy. Women carrying a BRCA1/2 mutation have a very high lifetime risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer.
The only effective risk-reducing strategy in BRCA-mutated women is a prophylactic surgery with bilateral mastectomy
and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. However, many women are reluctant to undergo these prophylactic surgeries due
to a consequent mutilated body perception, unfulfilled family planning, and precocious menopause. In these patients,
an effective screening strategy is available only for breast cancer, but it only consists in close radiological exams with
a significant burden for the health system and a significant distress to the patients. No biomarkers have been shown
to effectively detect breast and ovarian cancer at an early stage. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are key regulatory molecules
operating in a post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. Aberrant expression of miRNAs has been documented
in several pathological conditions, including solid tumors, suggesting their involvement in tumorigenesis. miRNAs can
be detected in blood and urine and could be used as biomarkers in solid tumors. Encouraging results are emerging in
gynecological malignancy as well, and suggest a different pattern of expression of miRNAs in biological fluids of breast
and ovarian cancer patients as compared to healthy control. Aim of this study is to highlight the role of the urinary
miRNAs which are specifically associated with cancer and to investigate their role in early diagnosis and in determining
the prognosis in breast and ovarian cancer.