In recent years, A-to-I RNA modifications performed by the Adenosine Deaminase Acting on RNA (ADAR) protein family were found to be expressed at altered levels in multiple human malignancies. A-to-I RNA editing changes adenosine to inosine on double stranded RNA, thereby changing transcript sequence and structure. Although A-to-I RNA editing have the potential to change essential mRNA transcripts, affecting their corresponding protein structures, most of the human editing sites identified to date reside in non-coding repetitive transcripts such as Alu elements. Therefore, the impact of the hypo- or hyper-editing found in specific cancers remains unknown. Moreover, it is yet unclear whether or not changes in RNA editing and ADAR expression levels facilitate or even drive cancer progression or are just a byproduct of other affected pathways. In both cases, however, the levels of RNA editing and ADAR enzymes can possibly be used as specific biomarkers, as their levels change differently in specific malignancies. More significantly, recent studies suggest that ADAR enzymes can be used to reverse the oncogenic process, suggesting a potential for gene therapies. This review focuses on new findings that suggest that RNA editing by ADARs can affect cancer progression and even formation. We also discuss new possibilities of using ADAR enzymes and RNA editing as cancer biomarkers, indicators of chemotherapeutic drug sensitivity, and even to be themselves potential therapeutic tools.

近年来，发现由作用于RNA（ADAR）的腺苷脱氨酶对A至I的RNA修饰在多种人类恶性肿瘤中以改变的水平表达。从A到I的RNA编辑可将双链RNA上的腺苷变为肌苷，从而改变转录物的序列和结构。尽管从A到I的RNA编辑可能会改变必需的mRNA转录本，从而影响其相应的蛋白质结构，但迄今为止，大多数人类编辑位点仍位于非编码的重复转录本中，例如Alu元素。因此，在特定癌症中发现的过度编辑或过度编辑的影响仍然未知。此外，尚不清楚RNA编辑和ADAR表达水平的改变是否促进或什至促进了癌症的进展，或者仅仅是其他受影响途径的副产物。然而，在这两种情况下，RNA编辑和ADAR酶的水平都可以用作特定的生物标志物，因为它们的水平在特定的恶性肿瘤中会有所不同。更重要的是，最近的研究表明，ADAR酶可用于逆转致癌过程，暗示了基因疗法的潜力。这篇综述聚焦于新发现，这些新发现表明，ADAR的RNA编辑可以影响癌症的进展甚至形成。我们还将讨论使用ADAR酶和RNA编辑作为癌症生物标志物的新可能性，