Upregulation of long non-coding RNA LOC284454 may serve as a new serum biomarker for head and neck cancers

Abstract

Purpose: Identification of effective diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of cancer is necessary for improving precision medicine. Long non-coding RNAs(lncRNAs) play an important regulatory role in tumorinitiation and progression. The lncRNA LOC284454 is distinctly expressed in various head and neck cancers(HNCs), as demonstrated by our previous bioinformatics analysis. However, the expression levels and functions of LOC284454 in cancer are still unclear.Methods: We investigated the dysregulation of lncRNAs in HNCs using the GEO database and found that LOC284454 was highly expressed in HNCs. Serum samples from 212 patients with HNCs and 121 normal controls were included in this biomarker study. We measured the expression of LOC284454 in the sera of HNC patients and normal controls using RT-qPCR. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis is an important statistical method that is widely used in clinical diagnosis and population screening. ROC was used to analyze the clinical value of LOC284454 in the early diagnosis of HNCs.Results: LOC284454 was significantly upregulated in the sera of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma, oral cancer, and thyroid cancer. LOC284454 upregulation had good clinical diagnostic value in these cancers, as evaluated by area under the ROC curve values of 0.931, 0.698, and 0.834,respectively.Conclusions: LOC284454 may be a valuable serum biomarker forHNCsfacilitating the early diagnosis of malignant cancers.Further studies are needed to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the involvement of LOC284454 in HNCs.This study provides the first evidence that LOC284454 may be a serum biomarker for HNCs.

Long Noncoding RNA E2F4as Promotes Progression and Predicts Patient Prognosis in Human Ovarian Cancer

“…Recently accumulated evidence has suggested that lncRNA may play an important role in cell biology and human disease. In gynaecological cancer, several lncRNAs were identified, including HOTAIR, SRA, MALAT-1, H19 and LSINCT5 [17][18][19][20]. On the basis of these data, lncRNA is emerging as an early diagnosis and treatment target.…”