Liu Xue-Fang, Thin Khaing Zar, Ming Xin-Liang, Li Nan-Di, Tu Jian-Cheng
1 Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine and Center for Gene Diagnosis, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
Technol Cancer Res Treat. 2018 Jan 1;17:1533033818794494. doi: 10.1177/1533033818794494.
Noncoding RNAs are crucial regulators acting as either tumor suppressor genes or oncogenes in human cancer progression. The aberrant expression of noncoding RNAs has been confirmed in different kinds of cancers. Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most common malignant tumors worldwide, characterized by insidious onset, great malignancy, and high rates of recurrence and metastasis. Due to lack of early predictive markers, numerous patients are diagnosed in the late stages. As therapeutic options for advanced patients are quite limited, great efforts have been made to screen patients at early stages. A previous study reported that small nucleolar RNA host gene 18 played crucial role in glioma. However, its functions and roles in hepatocellular carcinoma are unknown.
To explore its functional role and diagnostic value in hepatocellular carcinoma, we investigated its expression level.
We performed real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction in tumor tissues and adjacent noncancerous tissues derived from patients with hepatocellular carcinoma as well as in plasma, including samples from the healthy control, patients with hepatitis B, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma.
Small nucleolar RNA host gene 18 was downregulated in liver tissues compared to paired adjacent noncancerous tissues ( P < .0001). Meanwhile, plasma small nucleolar RNA host gene 18 showed a relatively high sensitivity and specificity (75.61% and 73.49%) for distinguishing patients with hepatocellular carcinoma whose α-fetoprotein levels were below 200 ng/mL from the healthy controls.
Our study suggested that small nucleolar RNA host gene 18 might act as a tumor suppressor gene in hepatocellular carcinoma and potentially a diagnostic indicator to distinguish hepatocellular carcinoma from the healthy control and cirrhosis.
非编码RNA是人类癌症进展中作为肿瘤抑制基因或癌基因发挥作用的关键调节因子。非编码RNA的异常表达已在不同类型的癌症中得到证实。肝细胞癌是全球最常见的恶性肿瘤之一，其特点是起病隐匿、恶性程度高、复发和转移率高。由于缺乏早期预测标志物，许多患者在晚期才被诊断出来。由于晚期患者的治疗选择非常有限，因此人们在早期筛查患者方面付出了巨大努力。先前的一项研究报道，小核仁RNA宿主基因18在胶质瘤中起关键作用。然而，其在肝细胞癌中的功能和作用尚不清楚。
为了探讨其在肝细胞癌中的功能作用和诊断价值，我们研究了其表达水平。
我们对来自肝细胞癌患者的肿瘤组织和相邻非癌组织以及血浆进行了实时定量聚合酶链反应，包括健康对照、乙型肝炎患者、肝硬化患者和肝细胞癌患者的样本。
与配对的相邻非癌组织相比，肝组织中小核仁RNA宿主基因18表达下调（P <.0001）。同时，血浆小核仁RNA宿主基因18在区分甲胎蛋白水平低于200 ng/mL的肝细胞癌患者与健康对照方面显示出相对较高的敏感性和特异性（分别为75.61%和73.49%）。
我们的研究表明，小核仁RNA宿主基因18可能在肝细胞癌中作为肿瘤抑制基因发挥作用，并且可能是区分肝细胞癌与健康对照和肝硬化的诊断指标。
