Value of serum LncRNA KIF9-AS1 combined with CT signs in the diagnosis of benign and malignant early pulmonary nodules and its correlation with prognosis.

BACKGROUND

Early screening for lung cancer and early treatment of malignant pulmonary nodules (PNs) contribute a lot to reducing lung cancer mortality. Whether the highly expressed lncRNA KIF9-AS1 in multiple malignancies is associated with the development of malignant PNs is not clear. This study focused on the diagnosis and prognosis value of KIF9-AS1 in PNs patients.

METHODS

The study population included 101 individuals with benign PNs and 172 patients diagnosed with malignant PNs. The expression of KIF9-AS1 was analyzed by qRT-PCR. The receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted to evaluate the diagnostic performance while the Kaplan-Meier curve and multivariate Cox regression analysis were employed for prognosis. Correlation assessment was accomplished by Pearson correlation analysis.

RESULTS

Differentiated expression of KIF9-AS1 was found in benign and malignant PNs groups. The expression of KIF9-AS1 was positively associated with carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and cytokeratin 19 fragments 21 - 1 (CYFRA21-1). KIF9-AS1 presented high accuracy in distinguishing malignant PNs from benign PNs, especially combined with computed tomography (CT). The expression level of KIF9-AS1, and nodule diameter were independent risk factors of poor prognosis.

CONCLUSIONS

Assessment of serum KIF9-AS1 level contributed to clinical diagnosis and prognosis of malignant PNs and also improved the diagnostic value of CT.