环状RNA（circRNA）是一类内源性单链RNA转录本，在真核细胞中广泛表达。这些RNA介导基因表达的转录后控制，并在生物过程中具有多个功能，例如转录调节和剪接。它们主要作为微RNA海绵、RNA结合蛋白和翻译模板。更重要的是，circRNAs参与了癌症进展，可能成为肿瘤诊断和治疗的有前途的生物标记物。尽管传统的实验方法通常耗时费力，但通过使用计算模型、总结信号通路数据和其他数据库，已经取得了在探索潜在circRNA-疾病关联方面的重大进展。在本文中，我们综述circRNAs的生物特性和功能，包括在癌症中的作用。具体而言，我们关注与癌症发生相关的信号通路，以及与circRNA相关的生物信息学数据库的现状。最后，我们探讨circRNAs作为癌症预后生物标记物的潜在作用。版权所有©2023癌症生物学与医学。

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) form a class of endogenous single-stranded RNA transcripts that are widely expressed in eukaryotic cells. These RNAs mediate post-transcriptional control of gene expression and have multiple functions in biological processes, such as transcriptional regulation and splicing. They serve predominantly as microRNA sponges, RNA-binding proteins, and templates for translation. More importantly, circRNAs are involved in cancer progression, and may serve as promising biomarkers for tumor diagnosis and therapy. Although traditional experimental methods are usually time-consuming and laborious, substantial progress has been made in exploring potential circRNA-disease associations by using computational models, summarized signaling pathway data, and other databases. Here, we review the biological characteristics and functions of circRNAs, including their roles in cancer. Specifically, we focus on the signaling pathways associated with carcinogenesis, and the status of circRNA-associated bioinformatics databases. Finally, we explore the potential roles of circRNAs as prognostic biomarkers in cancer.Copyright © 2023 Cancer Biology & Medicine.