Department of Animal Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran.
Liver and Gastroenterology Disease Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Science, Tabriz, Iran.
J Gastrointest Cancer. 2022 Mar;53(1):72-77. doi: 10.1007/s12029-020-00549-y. Epub 2020 Nov 10.
LncRNAs are regulatory factors that play a prominent role in the carcinogenesis processes and cancer cell ability to invade and metastasize. Hence, lncRNAs are considered as the potential diagnostic and therapeutic biomarkers in diverse malignancies. The present study was designed to assess the difference of HOXA-AS2 gene expression levels in cancerous tissues as compared to marginal noncancerous tissues of gastric cancer patients.
Fifty pairs of cancerous and marginal noncancerous tissue of gastric cancer patients were collected in the present study. Then, RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis were performed for all specimens. The qRT-PCR was carried out to examine the difference of HOXA-AS2 gene expression. Furthermore, the association between HOXA-AS2 expression and the clinicopathological features as well as the function of HOXA-AS2 biomarkers was evaluated.
The HOXA-AS2 expression was significantly elevated in cancerous tissues as compared to marginal noncancerous tissues in gastric cancer patients (p < 0.0001). Analysis of gene expression data revealed that there was a significant association between an increased HOXA-AS2 gene expression and clinicopathological features such as tumor size ˃ 5 cm (p = 0.009), lymph node metastasis (p = 0.028), and H. pylori infection (p = 0.011). The results of ROC analysis indicated that HOXA-AS2 with AUC, sensitivity, and specificity of 0.816, 92%, and 70%, respectively, can act as a potential biomarker (CI 95% = 0.7297-0.9023).
With regard to the overexpression of HOXA-AS2 in gastric cancer tissues, the mentioned gene may serve as an oncogenic lncRNA in gastric cancer patients. Moreover, HOXA-AS2 can act as a potential biomarker in molecular targeted therapies to recognize and treat gastric cancer patients.
长链非编码 RNA 是调节因子，在致癌过程和癌细胞侵袭转移能力中发挥重要作用。因此，长链非编码 RNA 被认为是多种恶性肿瘤潜在的诊断和治疗生物标志物。本研究旨在评估 HOXA-AS2 基因在胃癌患者癌组织与边缘非癌组织中的表达水平差异。
本研究收集了 50 对胃癌患者的癌组织和边缘非癌组织。然后对所有标本进行 RNA 提取和 cDNA 合成。采用 qRT-PCR 检测 HOXA-AS2 基因的表达差异。此外，还评估了 HOXA-AS2 表达与临床病理特征的关系以及 HOXA-AS2 标志物的功能。
HOXA-AS2 在胃癌患者癌组织中的表达明显高于边缘非癌组织（p<0.0001）。基因表达数据分析显示，HOXA-AS2 基因表达水平升高与肿瘤大小>5cm（p=0.009）、淋巴结转移（p=0.028）和 H. pylori 感染（p=0.011）等临床病理特征显著相关。ROC 分析结果表明，HOXA-AS2 的 AUC、敏感性和特异性分别为 0.816、92%和 70%，可作为潜在的生物标志物（CI95%=0.7297-0.9023）。
鉴于 HOXA-AS2 在胃癌组织中的高表达，该基因可能在胃癌患者中作为致癌 lncRNA 发挥作用。此外，HOXA-AS2 可作为潜在的生物标志物，用于分子靶向治疗以识别和治疗胃癌患者。
