Identification of a seven-lncRNAs panel that serves as a prognosis predictor and contributes to the malignant progression of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) is one of the most frequent head and neck cancers worldwide. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play a critical role in tumorigenesis. However, the clinical significance of lncRNAs in LSCC remains largely unknown.

Methods: In this study, transcriptome sequencing was performed on 107 LSCC and paired adjacent normal mucosa (ANM) tissues. Furthermore, RNA expression and clinical data of 111 LSCC samples were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Bioinformatics analysis were performed to construct a model for predicting the overall survival (OS) of LSCC patients. Moreover, we investigated the roles of lncRNAs in LSCC cells through loss-of-function experiments.

Results: A seven-lncRNAs panel including ENSG00000233397, BARX1-DT, LSAMP-AS1, HOXB-AS4, MNX1-AS1, LINC01385, and LINC02893 was identified. The Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that the seven-lncRNAs panel was significantly associated with OS (HR:6.21 [3.27-11.81], p-value<0.0001), disease-specific survival (DSS) (HR:4.34 [1.83-10.26], p-value=0.0008), and progression-free interval (PFI) (HR:3.78 [1.92-7.43], p-value=0.0001). ROC curves showed the seven-lncRNAs panel predicts OS with good specificity and sensitivity. Separately silencing the seven lncRNAs inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion capacity of LSCC cells.

Conclusion: Collectively, this seven-lncRNAs panel is a promising signature for predicting the prognosis of LSCC patients, and these lncRNAs could serve as potential targets for LSCC treatment.