Evaluation of the expression of the long non-coding RNAs, LOWEG and MINCR, and their clinical significance in human gastric cancer

Abstract

Background Gastric cancer (GC) is currently the fifth most common malignancy. Accumulating evidence has recently revealed that maladjustments of diverse long non-coding RNAs may play key roles in multiple genetic and epigenetic phenomena in GC. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), which are transcriptional products with more than 200 nucleotides, are a subset of non-coding RNAs. LncRNA LOWEG and lncRNA MINCR, as novel lncRNAs, may have roles in GC progression. Objective This study aimed to examine the clinical and diagnostic significance of lncRNA LOWEG and lncRNA MINCR in GC. Methods The qRT-PCR technique measured lncRNA LOWEG and lncRNA MINCR expression in GC tissues and matched adjacent marginal tissues. The association between clinicopathological parameters and the expression level of lncRNAs was evaluated. Furthermore, The ROC curve was plotted to assess the diagnostic power of lncRNA LOWEG and lncRNA MINCR as candidate biomarkers in gastric cancer patients. Results We found that lncRNA LOWEG expression was downregulated in cancerous tissues compared to the adjacent marginal tissues (P-value < 0.0001). LncRNA MINCR expression was upregulated in cancerous tissues compared to adjacent marginal tissues (P-value < 0.0001). Downregulation of lncRNA LOWER and upregulation of lncRNA MINCR did not significantly correlate with clinicopathological parameters. ROC curve analysis showed that lncRNA LOWEG and lncRNA MINCR could be proposed as reliable diagnostic biomarkers in GC. Conclusion The expression of the lncRNA LOWEG was reduced in tumoral tissues compared to the adjacent marginal tissues, and the expression of lncRNA MINCR increased in tumoral tissues. So, as a result, lncRNAs LOWEG and MINCR could be considered diagnostic biomarkers for GC.