Elevated expression of CCAT2 is associated with poor prognosis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: CCAT2, a novel long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), is found to promote the metastasis and invasion of colon, lung, and breast cancers. This study aimed to investigate the level of CCAT2 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and to elucidate its clinical significance. METHODS: The expression level of CCAT2 and the status of MYC amplification were examined in 229 ESCC samples using quantitative real- time PCR. RESULTS: CCAT2 was upregulated in ESCC tissues, especially in cases with lymph node metastasis (LNM), advanced TNM stages, and MYC amplification. Furthermore, the level of CCAT2 was positively correlated with TNM stages, LNM, and the number of positive lymph nodes. High CCAT2 expression and MYC amplification were significantly associated with TNM stages and LNM. Survival analyses revealed that high CCAT2 expression and MYC amplification were significantly associated with poorer overall survival in ESCC patients. Furthermore, patients with high CCAT2 expression and MYC amplification had a 2.199-fold increased risk of death compared with those with low CCAT2 expression and MYC non-amplification. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides the first evidence associating CCAT2 expression and poor survival in ESCC. CCAT2 may be a prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for ESCC.