The value of lncRNA<i>FENDRR</i>and<i>FOXF1</i>as a prognostic factor for survival of lung adenocarcinoma

Abstract

It is increasingly evident that non-coding RNAs play a significant role in tumour development. However, we still have a limited knowledge of the clinical significance of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in lung cancer. The <i>FENDRR</i> is a long coding RNA (also named <i>FOXF1-AS1</i>) located in the vicinity of the protein-coding gene <i>FOXF1</i> at 16q24.1 chromosomal region. The present study aimed to define the clinic pathological significance of the long-non-coding RNA <i>FENDRR</i> in lung adenocarcinomas. <i>FENDRR</i> expression measured by quantitative PCR was found significantly downregulated (p<0.001) in lung adenocarcinoma samples in comparison with their normal adjacent tissues (n=70). RNA <i>in situ</i> hybridization (RNA-FISH) corroborated independently the down-regulation of <i>FENDRR</i>. Interestingly, the expression of <i>FENDRR</i> correlated positively (p<0.001) with the expression of its protein-coding neighbor gene <i>FOXF1</i>. Additionally, <i>FOXF1</i> expression was also found downregulated in adenocarcinomas compared to normal samples (p<0.001) and its expression was significantly correlated with overall survival alone (p=0.003) or in combination with <i>FENDRR</i> expression (p=0.01). In conclusion, our data support that <i>FENDRR</i> and <i>FOXF1</i> expression is decreased in lung adenocarcinoma and should be considered as new potential diagnostic/prognosis biomarkers.