Clinicopathologic Features and the Prognostic Implications of Long Noncoding RNA HOTAIRM1 in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Aims: The purpose of this study was to explore the value of long noncoding RNA-HOXA transcript antisense RNA myeloid-specific 1 (LncRNA-HOTAIRM1) as a prognostic candidate for detecting non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Materials and Methods: The cancer cell line encyclopedia online database was utilized to analyze HOTAIRM1 expression in different tumor cell lines and to estimate the relationship between HOTAIRM1 and clinicopathologic parameters based on the chi-square test. We evaluated lncRNA levels in differential tissues by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction assays. The Kaplan-Meier method was performed to analyze overall survival (OS). Results: LncRNA-HOTAIRM1 showed varied expression levels in different malignant tumor cell lines. There was a significant association between the expression of HOTAIRM1 and histopathological differentiation, tumor size, tumor/node/metastasis (TNM) stage, and Ki-67 of NSCLC patients. In addition, the relative expression of HOTAIRM1 in NSCLC patients was significantly higher when compared with their matched paracarcinoma tissues. Patients in the group with low expression levels of HOTAIRM1 had a longer OS than those in the group with high expression levels for lung adenocarcinoma, I-II stages of NSCLC, and NSCLC with smoking history. Conclusion: Our study suggests that LncRNA-HOTAIRM1 is highly expressed in NSCLC, and is associated with poorer prognosis, clinicopathologic grading, and smoking. LncRNA-HOTAIRM1 is a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for NSCLCs.