A long non-coding RNA signature to improve prognosis prediction of colorectal cancer

Increasing evidence suggests long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are frequently aberrantly expressed in cancers, however, few related lncRNA signatures have been established for prediction of cancer prognosis.

Researchers from the Shanghai Institution of Digestive Disease aimed to develop a lncRNA signature to improve prognosis prediction of colorectal cancer (CRC). Using a lncRNA-mining approach, they performed lncRNA expression profiling in large CRC cohorts from Gene Expression Ominus (GEO) (N=436), internal validation series (N=117); and two independent validation series GSE14333 (N=197) and GSE17536(N=145). They established a set of six lncRNAs that were significantly correlated with the disease free survival (DFS) in the test series. Based on this six-lncRNA signature, the test series patients could be classified into high-risk and low-risk subgroups with significantly different DFS (HR=2.670; P<0.0001). The prognostic value of this six-lncRNA signature was confirmed in the internal validation series and another two independent CRC sets. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) analysis suggested that risk score positively correlated with several cancer metastasis related pathways. Functional experiments demonstrated three dysregulated lncRNAs, AK123657, BX648207 and BX649059 were required for efficient invasion and proliferation suppression in CRC cell lines. Our results might provide an efficient classification tool for clinical prognosis evaluation of CRC.

• Hu Y1, Chen HY, Yu CY, Xu J, Wang JL, Qian J, Zhang X, Fang JY. (2014) A long non-coding RNA signature to improve prognosis prediction of colorectal cancer. Oncotarget 5(8):2230-42. [article]