Clinical Application of Long Non-Coding RNA-UCA1 as a Candidate Gene in Progression of Esophageal Cancer

Esophageal cancer (EC) is known as one of the most prevalent gastrointestinal cancers, and results in the seventh highest number of cancer-relevant deaths. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have substantial roles in several biological processes. LncRNA human urothelial carcinoma associated 1 (UCA1) is announced to be enhanced in multiple types of human cancers. This survey was carried out to identify the potential role of the lncRNA-UCA1 in the progression of EC. A case-control investigation was performed on 140 FFPE tissues of EC patients consisting of 70 cancerous tissues and 70 marginal tissues samples. To determine the lncRNA-UCA1 gene expression changes, quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) method was utilized. In addition, the associations between the lncRNA-UCA1 gene expression and clinicopathological parameters were assessed. Our findings revealed that the lncRNA-UCA1 was notably up-regulated in EC tissues compared to adjacent normal tissues (P < 0.05). LncRNA-UCA1 expression was substantially correlated to alcohol drinking (P = 0.008) and socioeconomic status (P = 0.001), while shared no correlation with age, hot drinking status and stage (P > 0.05). Our data indicated that the lncRNA-UCA1 play an important role in the progression of EC and may be considered as a candidate gene in the pathogenesis of EC patients.