Liu SZ, Liu Y, Wang CL, Li YJ, Shan XQ, Gao WL, He MH, Zhao L. Extracellular vesicles circular RNA: A new perspective and clinical application potential for mediating chemoresistance in colorectal cancer. World J Clin Oncol 2025; 16(7): 107633 [DOI: 10.5306/wjco.v16.i7.107633]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Lan Zhao, PhD, Research Fellow, First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 88 Changling Road, Xiqing District, Tianjin 300381, China. lanzhao69@163.com
Research Domain of This Article
Oncology
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Clin Oncol. Jul 24, 2025; 16(7): 107633 Published online Jul 24, 2025. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v16.i7.107633
Extracellular vesicles circular RNA: A new perspective and clinical application potential for mediating chemoresistance in colorectal cancer
Shu-Zhen Liu, Yan Liu, Chao-Li Wang, Yu-Jiao Li, Xiao-Qian Shan, Wei-Li Gao, Mei-Heng He, Lan Zhao
Shu-Zhen Liu, Yan Liu, Chao-Li Wang, Yu-Jiao Li, Xiao-Qian Shan, Wei-Li Gao, Mei-Heng He, Lan Zhao, First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 300381, China
Shu-Zhen Liu, Yan Liu, Chao-Li Wang, Yu-Jiao Li, Xiao-Qian Shan, Wei-Li Gao, Mei-Heng He, Lan Zhao, National Clinical Research Center for Chinese Medicine Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Tianjin 300381, China
Author contributions: Liu SZ was responsible for conceptualization, writing the review, and editing; Liu Y, Wang CL, Li YJ, Shan XQ, Gao WL, and He MH prepared the original draft; Zhao L was responsible for the supervision; All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.
Supported by Open Project of National Clinical Research Center for Chinese Medicine Acupuncture and Moxibustion, No. NCRCOP2023007.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Lan Zhao, PhD, Research Fellow, First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 88 Changling Road, Xiqing District, Tianjin 300381, China. lanzhao69@163.com
Received: March 28, 2025 Revised: April 29, 2025 Accepted: June 20, 2025 Published online: July 24, 2025 Processing time: 117 Days and 3.4 Hours
Abstract
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common and deadly malignancy worldwide, causing high morbidity and mortality rates. Chemoresistance continues to be the major barrier to the effective treatment of CRC. Circular RNA (circRNA), a recently identified class of non-coding RNA, has become an emerging focus in CRC research due to its abundant presence and stability in extracellular vesicles (EVs). The circRNA of EVs (EVs-circRNA) is closely associated with CRC progression and plays a pivotal role in chemoresistance mechanisms. This paper investigates the circRNA mechanism underlying different chemoresistance scenarios in CRC and explores the dual role of EVs-circRNA in mediating chemotherapy resistance. Furthermore, EVs-circRNA, a non-invasive biomarker for liquid biopsies, holds significant promise in clinical applications, ranging from early CRC diagnosis to monitoring disease progression and assessing prognosis. These studies provide a new perspective for uncovering CRC pathogenesis and lay the foundation for precision therapy and personalized treatment strategies for CRC. In the future, therapeutic strategies targeting EVs-circRNAs are anticipated to revolutionize CRC treatment, leading to improved therapeutic outcomes and enhanced quality of life for patients.
Core Tip: Colorectal cancer (CRC) chemoresistance remains a major therapeutic challenge. Circular RNA (circRNA) is enriched and stable in extracellular vesicles (EVs), drives CRC progression, and mediates drug resistance. The circRNA of EVs as a non-invasive biomarker for diagnosis, monitoring, and prognosis offers a promising strategy for precision therapy of CRC.
