Decreased expression of long non-coding RNA MEG3 acts as a potential predictor biomarker in progression and poor prognosis of osteosarcoma

Abstract

Introduction: Long non-coding RNA MEG3 (lncRNA MEG3) has been showed to involve in a variety of cancers. However, the association between lncRNA MEG3 expression level and the prognosis of osteosarcoma is still unclear.

Methods: The expression levels of lncRNA MEG3 in osteosarcoma tissues and adjacent non-tumor tissues were detected using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Differences in patient survival were determined using the Kaplan-Meier method and a log-rank test. A Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used for univariate and multivariate analyses of prognostic values.

Results: Our findings showed that expression of lncRNA MEG3 was clearly lower in osteosarcoma tissues compared with adjacent non-tumor tissues. The expression of lncRNA MEG3 was associated with clinical stage and distant metastasis (P<0.05). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that patients with low lncRNA MEG3 expression had a shorter overall survival (log-rank test, P<0.05). Furthermore, multivariate analysis revealed that decreased expression of lncRNA MEG3, advanced clinical stage and distant metastasis were all independent predictors to overall survival of osteosarcoma patients.

Conclusions: Downregulation of lncRNA MEG3 was associated with poor overall survival of osteosarcoma. LncRNA MEG3 could be a useful biomarker for progression and prognosis of osteosarcoma.

Keywords: lncRNA MEG3; osteosarcoma; prognosis; progression.

Figure 1

Relative lncRNA MEG3 expression in osteosarcoma tissues and its clinical significance. A. Relative lncRNA MEG3 expression level in osteosarcoma tissues and adjacent non-tumor tissues; the expression of level of lncRNA MEG3 was detected in osteosarcoma patients by qRT-PCR. B. Kaplan-Meier overall survival curves according to lncRNA MEG3 expression level. *P<0.05.