Detecting long non-coding RNA biomarkers in prostate cancer liquid biopsies: Hype or hope?

Prostate cancer is a heterogeneous malignancy, with clinical courses widely differing between indolent and aggressive lethal disease. This heterogeneity calls for a more personalized approach towards diagnosis, prognosis, treatment decision, monitoring and follow-up of patients. In this review, we discuss the possibilities and drawbacks of detecting RNA biomarkers in biological fluids to improve disease-specific survival and quality of life. In particular, we examine literature on long non-coding RNAs in blood and urine of prostate cancer patients. We thereby specifically focus on the need for standard operation procedures on many different levels, analytical validation, clinical validation, and assessment of clinical utility. We argue that thorough multi-step validation of putative biomarkers is necessary for successful translation into clinical prostate cancer care. Our recommendations may also prove useful to biomarker research in other cancers.