PLASMA LONG NON-CODING RNA SNHG-18 IS A VALUABLE MARKER FOR THE SCREENING OF NON-SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER

Khaing Zar Thin†, Xuefang Liu†, Yingchao Wang, Sudheesh Raveendran, Xiaobo Feng, Jian Cheng Tu*

ABSTRACT

Many research studies have proven that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) may play a critical role in various cancer development and progression. However, little is known the clinical aspect of small nucleolar RNA host gene (SNHG18) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This work aimed to investigate the diagnostic impact of SNHG18 in NSCLC plasma and to assess its association with clinical characteristics. Firstly, the expression level of SNHG 18 was detected by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT -PCR) in 64 pairs of NSCLC tissue. Then, we analyzed the differential expression and diagnostic value of SNHG 18 in 126 NSCLC patient and 87 healthy controls. Results showed that SNHG18 expression was significantly up-regulated in NSCLC plasma compared with healthy control plasma (P=0.0005), and its diagnostic efficacy was satisfactory. The combination of SNHG18 and CEA could provide a more accurate diagnosis than SNHG18 or CEA alone (AUC 0.7217, 95% CI: 0.6279-0.8155, P<0.0001). Additionally, plasma SNHG18 levels in preoperative patients with NSCLC were significantly higher than those in the postoperative group (P=0.0181). In conclusion, our results showed that SNHG 18 might serve as an oncogene and can be considered as a tumor marker for diagnosing and monitoring NSCLC patients.

Keywords: Long non-coding RNAs, SNHG18, plasma.