an Immune-Related Long Non-Coding RNA Associated with Early-Stage Breast Cancer Progression.

Long non-coding RNAs are increasingly being recognized as cancer biomarkers in various malignancies, acting as either tumor suppressors or oncogenes. The long non-coding intergenic RNA was identified as significantly upregulated in breast ductal carcinoma in situ. The aim of this study was to characterize expression, localization, and phenotypic and molecular effects in non-invasive and invasive breast cancer cells. We determined that is an estrogen-estrogen receptor-modulated lncRNA enriched in the cytoplasmic fraction of luminal A/B breast cancer cells that is associated with worse overall survival in patients with primary invasive breast carcinomas. Transcriptomic studies in normal and DCIS cells identified the main signaling pathways modulated by , which mainly involve bioprocesses related to innate and adaptive immune responses, extracellular matrix remodeling, cell adhesion, and activation of AP-1 signaling pathway. We determined that induces premalignant phenotypic changes by increasing cell migration in normal breast cells. Moreover, high expression in invasive carcinomas was associated with a pro-tumorigenic immune environment and a favorable predicted response to immunotherapy both in luminal and basal-like subtypes compared with low--expression tumors. We conclude that behaves as an oncogenic and immune-related lncRNA involved with early-stage breast cancer progression.