Co-expression of AFAP1-AS1 and PD-1 predicts poor prognosis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Abstract

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) carries a high potential for metastasis and immune escape, with a great risk of relapse after primary treatment. Through analysis of whole genome expression profiling data in NPC samples, we found that the expression of a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), actin filament-associated protein 1 antisense RNA 1 (AFAP1-AS1), is significantly correlated with the immune escape marker programmed death 1 (PD-1). We therefore assessed the expression of AFAP1-AS1 and PD-1 in a cohort of 96 paraffin-embedded NPC samples and confirmed that AFAP1-AS1 and PD-1 are co-expressed in infiltrating lymphocytes in NPC tissue. Moreover, patients with high expression of AFAP1-AS1 or PD-1 in infiltrating lymphocytes were more prone to distant metastasis, and NPC patients with positive expression of both AFAP1-AS1 and PD-1 had the poorest prognosis. This study suggests that AFAP1-AS1 and PD-1 may be potential therapeutic targets in NPC and that patients with co-expression of AFAP1-AS1 and PD-1 may be ideal candidates for future clinical trials of anti-PD-1 immune therapy.

A network-based approach to identify DNA methylation and its involved molecular pathways in testicular germ cell tumors

“…Fortunately, the emerging microarray and next-generation sequencing technology help us gain deeper insight into the thousands or millions of human genome sequences concurrently [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]. As a consequence, these related technologies have been adopted extensively to screen the potential diagnostic indicator and treatment target points for multiple diseases, such as cancer, and metabolic disease [31][32][33][34][35][36][37].…”

Long Non-coding RNAs: Emerging Roles in the Immunosuppressive Tumor Microenvironment

“…The immunohistochemical analysis revealed that PD-1 and AFAP1-AS1 were co-expressed in the TILs of the NPC tissues. Patients with NPC exhibited poor prognosis when the tumor was positive for both AFAP1-AS1 and PD-1 (74). TIM-3 expressed on the CD8 + T lymphocytes is reported to be correlated with the phenotype of immune exhaustion.…”

Functions and Roles of Long-Non-Coding RNAs in Human Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

“…lncRNAs, which are up-regulated in NPC, may act as oncogene to promote growth, migration, invasion, chemo-, and radio-resistance, while others may possess anti-tumor properties [42-48] (Fig. 1).…”