Promising member of the short interspersed nuclear elements (<i>Alu</i> elements): mechanisms and clinical applications in human cancers.

Abstract

<i>Alu</i> elements are one of most ubiquitous repetitive sequences in human genome, which were considered as the junk DNA in the past. <i>Alu</i> elements have been found to be associated with human diseases including cancers via events such as amplification, insertion, recombination or RNA editing, which provide a new perspective of oncogenesis at both DNA and RNA levels. Due to the prevalent distribution, <i>Alu</i> elements are widely used as target molecule of liquid biopsy. <i>Alu</i>-based cell-free DNA shows feasible application value in tumour diagnosis, postoperative monitoring and adjuvant therapy. In this review, the special tumourigenesis mechanism of <i>Alu</i> elements in human cancers is discussed, and the application of <i>Alu</i> elements in various tumour liquid biopsy is summarised.