High-throughput 3D spheroid screens identify microRNA sensitizers for improved thermoradiotherapy in locally advanced cancers

Chemoradiotherapy is the standard of care for many locally advanced cancers, including cervical and head and neck cancers, but many patients cannot tolerate chemotherapy. Clinical trials have shown that radiotherapy combined with hyperthermia (thermoradiotherapy) may be equally effective, yet it yields a suboptimal overall survival of patients, emphasizing the need for improvement. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), short non-coding RNA sequences, are often dysregulated in cancer and exhibit significant potential as radiosensitizers by targeting genes associated with the DNA damage response. In this study, high-throughput miRNA screening of four cervical cancer cell lines identified 55 miRNAs with significant sensitizing potential, with 18 validated across 10 additional cancer cell lines (6 cervical and 4 head and neck). Functional studies of 6 miRNAs, including miR-16, miR-27a, miR-181c, miR-221, miR-224, and miR-1293, showed that they reduced DNA damage repair by downregulating ATM, DNA-PKcs, Ku70/80, and RAD51. Additionally, differential expression of miR-27a, miR-221, and miR-224 in treatment-sensitive versus treatment-resistant patients indicated their predictive biomarker potential for treatment response of cervical cancer patients. Conclusively, this study has identified 18 promising miRNAs for the development of sensitizers for thermoradiotherapy and may provide potential biomarkers for predicting treatment response in locally advanced cancers.