Serum exosomal long noncoding RNAs ENSG00000258332.1 and LINC00635 for the diagnosis and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Background:Increasing studies suggest that lncRNAs involving in carcinogenesis of human cancers, which might be used as diagnostic biomarkers for cancers Methods:Three hundred and one participants were recruited in the first part of the study including HCC group (n = 60), LC group (n = 85), CHB group (n = 96) and healthy subjects (n = 60). In the second part, we collected 55 HCC patients, 60 CHB patients and 60 healthy subjects as an independent cohort to validate the ability of the experiential lncRNAs for identifying HCC from CHB. Results:The results showed the levels of lnRNAs in the HCC group were significantly higher than those in the other groups (all P < 0.05). A high ENSG00000258332.1 level in HCC was associated with portal vein tumor emboli, lymph node metastasis, TNM stage and overall survival (OS) (all P < 0.05); and a high LINC00635 level was related to lymph node metastasis, TNM stage and OS (all P < 0.05). ENSG00000258332.1 discriminated HCC from CHB gaining an AUC of 0.719 (cut-off value of 1.345); LINC00635 gained an AUC of 0.750 (cut-off value of 1.690). Furthermore, the AUC for the combination of 2 lncRNAs and AFP (cut-off value of 20 μg/L) was 0.894. The abilities of the 2 lncRNAs for identifying HCC from CHB were validated by an independent cohort. Conclusions:The results suggested that the combination of lncRNAs and AFP may be a valuable assay in diagnosis and prognosis of HCC. Impact:Our data will shed light on exosomal lncRNAs as biomarkers for HCC.