Rapid Identification of UCA1 as a Very Sensitive and Specific Unique Marker for Human Bladder Carcinoma

Abstract

Purpose: The most common genitourinary malignancy in China is bladder transitional cell carcinoma (TCC). Early diagnosis of new and recurrent bladder cancers, followed by timely treatment, will help decrease mortality. There are currently no satisfactory markers for bladder cancer available in clinics. Better diagnostic methods are highly demanded. Experimental Design: In this research, we have used comprehensive expressed sequence tag analysis, serial analysis of gene expression, and microarray analysis and quickly discovered a candidate marker, urothelial carcinoma associated 1 (UCA1). The UCA1 gene was characterized and its performance as a urine marker was analyzed by reverse transcription-PCR with urine sediments. A total of 212 individuals were included in this study, 94 having bladder cancers, 33 ureter/pelvic cancers, and 85 normal and other urinary tract disease controls. Results: UCA1 was identified as a novel noncoding RNA gene dramatically up-regulated inTCC and it is the most TCC-specific gene yet identified. The full-length cDNA was 1,439 bp, and sequence analysis showed that it belonged to the human endogenous retrovirus H family. Clinical tests showed that UCA1assay was highly specific (91.8%, 78 of 85) and very sensitive (80.9%, 76 of 94) in the diagnosis of bladder cancer and was especially valuable for superficial G2-G3 patients (sensitivity 91.1%, 41 of 45). It showed excellent differential diagnostic performance in various urinary tract diseases without TCC. Conclusions: UCA1 is a very sensitive and specific unique marker for bladder cancer. It could have important implications in postoperative noninvasive follow-up. This research also highlights a shortcut to new cancer diagnostic assays through integration of in silico isolation methods with translational clinical tests based on RNA detection protocols.

Long noncoding RNAs: emerging players in thyroid cancer pathogenesis

“…Detection of PCA3 in the urine has been shown to be a more specific diagnostic marker in prostate cancer than the other commonly used prostate-specific antigen (Lee et al 2011). UCA1 (urothelial carcinoma associated 1) transcript detected in urine has been demonstrated to be a sensitive biomarker for bladder carcinoma (Wang et al 2006). HULC is posed as a promising diagnostic biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma since it has been detected with high frequency in the plasma of HCC patients (Xie et al 2013).…”

Long noncoding RNA UPAT promotes colon tumorigenesis by inhibiting degradation of UHRF1

“…To further verify this result, we performed RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) analysis with anti-UHRF1 antibody using lysates from HCT116 cells. qRT-PCR analysis of the immunoprecipitates revealed that UHRF1 was associated with endogenous UPAT, but not with GAPDH mRNA, U1 small nuclear RNA, ASBEL, or urothelial cancer associated 1 (UCA1) (16,17) (Fig. 2B).…”

Long non-coding RNA ANRIL predicts poor prognosis and promotes invasion/metastasis in serous ovarian cancer

“…An increasing number of discoveries of misregulated lncRNA expression across numerous cancer types have suggested that aberrant lncRNA expression may be a major contributor to tumourigenesis. Further, lncRNAs may add another layer to cancer research because their potential usefulness as biomarkers (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15). Therefore, to fully understand the complex mechanisms underlying carcinogenesis and cancer metastasis, the role of lncRNAs must be considered.…”