High level of lncRNA H19 expression is associated with shorter survival in esophageal squamous cell cancer patients

Abstract

Aim Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) is currently considered to play an important regulatory role in various diseases, including tumors, at present a hot topic in research. As a non-coding transcription product of imprinted gene, LncRNA H19 is expressed as a parent imprinted maternal allele without protein-coding ability. Increasing evidence indicates that LncH19 may be a new tumor marker for early clinical diagnosis and prognosis judgment. In this study, LncH19 expression was investigated by RNA in situ hybridization for further exploring the clinicopathological role of its expression in esophageal squamous cell cancer (ESCC). Methods 121 tumor samples and seven cases of adjacent non-tumor tissues from esophageal cancer patients were detected by RNA in situ hybridization (ISH) and the ISH staining was graded with modified Allred scoring. Results While no LncH19 expression in the tumor adjacent to normal epithelia was disclosed with the technology, significantly higher levels of LncH19 expression were detected in the tumors obtained from the patients who died within one year after surgery, compared to the expression in those tumors from the patients who survived longer than five years after the same treatment regimen (P = 0.001). In addition, LncH19 expression was verified to correlate with a larger tumor size (P = 0.002) and a higher UICC stage (P = 0.001). Conclusion Our LncH19 ISH data verify the involvement of LncH19 in ESCC. Higher levels of LncH19 expression were not only detected in tumors with larger size and in clinical late stage, but also significantly associated with shorter survival, strongly indicating its clinical significance in the malignant progression of ESCC and useful value as a poor prognostic factor for the patients.