Research progress regarding long-chain non-coding RNA in lung cancer: a narrative review

Abstract

Background and objective: Lung cancer is the main cause of cancer-related death worldwide, and its incidence rate is high. Traditional methods of lung cancer screening, such as those based on X-ray, low-dose computed tomography (LDCT), positron emission computed tomography (PET/CT), electronic bronchoscopy, and serum tumor markers were not satisfied with the urgent need in improving the patient survival rate. Thus, biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognosis of lung cancer are extremely needed. Studies have identified a variety of long-chain non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) that are expressed at abnormal levels in patients with lung cancer which was believed as a potential biomarker for the diagnosis and prognostic evaluation of lung cancer. This review aims to discuss the role of lncRNAs in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), so as to provide insights into the prognosis of lung cancer.

Methods: We searched PubMed database of the related scientific researches with outcomes from 09/16/2011 to 05/02/2022 focusing on lncRNA application in lung cancer via searching terms of "lncRNA AND lung cancer", "lncRNA AND non-small cell lung cancer", "lncRNA AND drug resistance", "lncRNA AND radio sensitivity". Published articles written in English available to readers were considered.

Key content and findings: We summarized significantly differentially-expressed lncRNAs in lung cancer tissues compared with healthy individuals and normal tissues which would become potential biomarkers for lung cancer diagnosis and therapeutic target as a non-invasive detection method.

Conclusions: LncRNAs might be valuable potential diagnostic biomarkers of lung cancer progression.

Keywords: Lung cancer; biomarkers; long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs); lung cancer diagnosis.

Figure 1

LncRNAs related to drug resistance against lung cancer and their mechanism of action. Red arrow: inhibition; green arrow: promoting effect; red represents the inhibition of drug-resistant LncRNAs; green signifies the promotion of drug resistance of LncRNAs. LncRNAs, long-chain non-coding RNA; EGFR, epidermal growth factor receptor; MEG3, maternal expression gene 3; Akt, protein kinase B; mTOR, mammalian target of rapamycin; EMT, epithelial-mesenchymal transition; Wnt, wingless/integrated; MALAT1, metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1; MDR1, multidrug resistance 1; MRP1, multidrug resistance-related protein 1.