Long non-coding RNA HULC as a novel serum biomarker for diagnosis and prognosis prediction of gastric cancer

Abstract

// Chunjing Jin 1, * , Wei Shi 2, * , Feng Wang 3, * , Xianjuan Shen 2 , Jing Qi 2 , Hui Cong 3 , Jie Yuan 1 , Linying Shi 1 , Bingying Zhu 1 , Xi Luo 1 , Yan Zhang 1 , Shaoqing Ju 2, 3 1 Medical School of Medicine, Nantong University, Nantong 226000, Jiangsu Province, China 2 Surgical Comprehensive Laboratory, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong 226000, Jiangsu Province, China 3 Laboratory Medicine Center, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong 226000, Jiangsu Province, China * These authors have contributed equally to the work Correspondence to: Shaoqing Ju, email: jsq814@hotmail.com Keywords: gastric cancer, long non-coding RNA, biomarker, HULC Received: January 25, 2016     Accepted: May 02, 2016     Published: June 16, 2016 ABSTRACT Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have recently emerged as vital players in tumor biology with potential value in cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutics. The lncRNA HULC (highly up-regulated in liver cancer) is increased in many malignancies, yet its serum expression profile and clinical value in gastric cancer (GC) patients remain unclear. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) for large-scale analysis of the serum expression of HULC in GC patients reliably detected circulating HULC and revealed that it is upregulated in GC patients. A high serum HULC level correlated with tumor size, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, tumor-node-metastasis stage, and H. pylori infection. The area under the ROC curve for HULC was up to 0.888, which was higher than that for CEA (0.694) and CA72-4 (0.514). Follow-up detection and Kaplan-Meier curve analysis revealed HULC is a good predictor of GC prognosis. Our present study indicates that circulating HULC may represent a novel serum tumor marker for early diagnosis and monitoring progression and prognosis of GC.