MicroRNAs as the pivotal regulators of Forkhead box protein family during gastrointestinal tumor progression and metastasis

Gastrointestinal (GI) tumors are among the most common causes of cancer related mortalities in the world. Despite various treatment modalities, there are still significant high mortality rates in these patients. Late diagnosis in advanced tumor stages is one of the major reasons for the high mortality rate that results in treatment failure and tumor relapse among these patients. Therefore, it is required to assess the molecular mechanisms involved in GI tumor progression to introduce novel efficient early detection markers. Forkhead box (FOX) is a family of transcription factors that have critical roles in regulation of cellular processes. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are pivotal regulators of FOX gene expressions during tumor progressions. In the present review, we discussed the role of miRNAs-FOX axis during GI tumor progression and metastasis. This review paves the way to introduce the miRNAs-FOX axis as a novel candidate for the early detection and targeted therapy in GI tumors.