Association of long noncoding RNA and c-JUN expression in hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Long noncoding RNAs(lncRNAs) have emerged as key elements in modulating gene expression in different biological contexts. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We used quantitative real-time PCR (Qpcr) to evaluate the expression of lncRNA-UCA1 and C-JUN in serum of 70 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), 32 patients chronic hepatitis C (CHC) and 38 healthy subjects and their correlation with different clinicopathological factors. RESULTS: The expression of lncRNA-UCA1 and C-JUN was positive in 91.4%HCC patients with strong discriminating power between HCC and healthy subjects and CHC patients as well. The median follow up period was 29 months. The survival analysis showed that both lncRNA-UCA1 and C-JUN were independent prognostic factors. Of note, we identified C-JUN expression changes consistent with the lncRNA-UCA1 target regulation. CONCLUSION: This information sheds light on the possible role of lncRNA-UCA1 and C-JUN mRNA as promising diagnostic and prognostic markers as well as potential therapeutic targets in HCC.