Expression and Function of Long Non-coding RNA CASC19 in Colorectal Cancer

Objective To investigate the expression, function and significance of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) CASC19 in colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction was employed to determine the expression of CASC19 in 40 paired samples from CRC surgical specimens and 5 CRC cell lines. The correlations of CASC19 expression with clinicopathologic parameters were analyzed. Transwell assay was applied to detect the migration ability of CRC cells after the CASC19 expression was knocked down by small interfering RNA. Results The expression of CASC19 in colorectal cancer was significantly higher than those in adjacent normal mucosa tissues (t=5.527, P<0.000 1) and was associated with metastasis (P=0.044). Knockdown of CASC19 expression in CRC inhibited the migration ability of CRC in vitro. Conclusions The expression of CASC19 increases in CRC. CASC19 expression is not associated with age, gender, or tumor site/differentiation but with tumor size, lymph node metastasis, and distant metastasis, suggesting high CASC19 expression may promote CRC metastasis.