Investigating the Role of Mineralocorticoid Receptor Signaling in Cancer Biology in the Genomic Era

In the last decades, advances that take place in the next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics research have helped reveal tissue- and cancer-specific gene expression patterns and mutation landscapes. Indeed, such data are now easily accessible via online genome browsers and different types and levels of public data compendia. Appropriate use of these tools eventually can lead to better patient stratification for diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy of cancers. Mineralocorticoid receptor (MR), encoded by NR3C2 gene, has long been implicated in the development and progression of multiple cancers. Nevertheless, MR has remained relatively understudied at the genomic and transcriptomic levels. In this review, we present the current, literature-based state of knowledge on the role of MR primarily in epithelial cancers. At the same time, we summarize the gene expression, mutation, and copy number variation data on MR obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We also show that MR expression could be a promising prognostic marker in different cancers using online tools for survival data analysis. Accordingly, this review strongly demonstrates the emerging potential of studying MR using available tools from the genomics/transcriptomics field for improving cancer diagnosis and prognostication.