Upregulation of the long noncoding RNA UCA1 affects the proliferation, invasion, and survival of hypopharyngeal carcinoma.
Several long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in oncogenesis.



Our microarray analysis showed that numerous lncRNAs are dysregulated in hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HSCC) tumor tissues as compared with normal tissues. Among those lncRNAs, urothelial carcinoma-associated 1 (UCA1) has been found to have an oncogenic role in HSCC. We confirmed the upregulation of UCA1 in HSCC by assessing its expression levels in a cohort of 53 patient tumors and paired non-tumor samples. In addition, we found that high UCA1 expression was significantly associated with advanced T category, late clinical stage, greater lymphatic invasion, and worse prognosis. Furthermore, in vitro experiments demonstrated that UCA1 functioned as an oncogene by promoting the proliferation and invasion and preventing the apoptosis of HSCC cells.



Taken together, our findings for the first time identify the role of UCA1 as a tumor promoter and a pro-metastatic factor in HSCC, demonstrating that UCA1 is a potential prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target in HSCC.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University; Key Laboratory of Otolaryngology, NHFPC (Shandong University), 107 West Wenhua Road, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, People's Republic of China.
Ye
Y
Qian
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University; Key Laboratory of Otolaryngology, NHFPC (Shandong University), 107 West Wenhua Road, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, People's Republic of China.
Dayu
D
Liu
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University; Key Laboratory of Otolaryngology, NHFPC (Shandong University), 107 West Wenhua Road, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, People's Republic of China.
Shengda
S
Cao
Department of Otolaryngology & Head and Neck Surgery, 2nd Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.
Ye
Y
Tao
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University; Key Laboratory of Otolaryngology, NHFPC (Shandong University), 107 West Wenhua Road, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, People's Republic of China.
Dongmin
D
Wei
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University; Key Laboratory of Otolaryngology, NHFPC (Shandong University), 107 West Wenhua Road, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, People's Republic of China.
Wenming
W
Li
Department of Head and Neck Surgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.|Department of Epidemiology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
Guojun
G
Li
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University; Key Laboratory of Otolaryngology, NHFPC (Shandong University), 107 West Wenhua Road, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, People's Republic of China. panxinl915@126.com.
Xinliang
X
Pan
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University; Key Laboratory of Otolaryngology, NHFPC (Shandong University), 107 West Wenhua Road, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, People's Republic of China. leidapeng@sdu.edu.cn.
Dapeng
D
Lei
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000235:genetics; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002465:Cell Movement; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010610:Pharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding / Q000235:genetics*
D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding; C515159:UCA1 RNA, human
Hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma; Long noncoding RNAs; Prognosis; UCA1