The Emerging Role and Promise of Long Noncoding RNAs in Lung Cancer Treatment

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death around the world. The advanced discovery of numerous long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) has dramatically changed the understanding of biology of human cancers, including lung cancer. LncRNAs are a group of noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) with a length greater than 200 nucleotides with limited or no protein-coding capacity. Increasing evidence has shown that specific lncRNAs may be implicated in the process of tumorigenesis. Because of their roles in the regulation of multiple molecular pathways associated with changes in gene expression, lncRNAs can serve as potential diagnostic biomarkers or therapeutic targets in lung cancer. Importantly, dysregulated lncRNAs is reported to be correlated with the sensitivity of lung cancer cells to anticancer therapies, including chemotherapy, molecular-targeted therapy, etc. Herein, we review the recent progress of lncRNAs in lung cancer, with a particular focus on the multiple molecular roles of regulatory lncRNAs on the molecular signaling pathways involved in tumorigenesis and the resistance to such therapies.