Overexpression of a long noncoding RNA tied to worse cancer prognosis

The overexpression of the hepatocellular carcinoma upregulated EZH2-associated (HEIH) family of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) appears to be a risk factor for worse clinicopathologic characteristics and outcomes for cancer patients, reports a recent meta-analysis.

Drawing from the databases of PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and Web of Science, the researchers retrieved 11 studies that were eligible for inclusion. From these, they extracted relevant data, including patient survival rate, clinicopathological characteristics, and lncRNA levels.

Pooled analysis of eight studies showed that the overexpression of HEIH lncRNA increased the risk of death by more than twofold (hazard ratio [HR], 2.15, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.67–2.77; p<0.001).

Aside from outcomes, HEIH lncRNA expression was linked to tumour characteristics as well. Heightened expression, for instance, was tied to larger tumours (odds ratio [OR], 1.69, 95 percent CI, 0.82–3.50; p=0.004) and a greater likelihood of lymph node metastasis (OR, 1.45, 95 percent CI, 0.72–2.94; p<0.001).

High HEIH lncRNA was also correlated with tumour differentiation grade (OR, 1.71, 95 percent CI, 1.09–2.67; p=0.018).

In contrast, expression levels had no interaction with patient age and sex or with tumour TNM staging.

“Over-expression of HEIH was associated with low survival and poor clinicopathologic characteristics for cancer patients, and its abnormal expressions may become a new biomarker for prognosis,” the researchers said.