Overexpression of long noncoding RNA HOXC13-AS and its prognostic significance in hepatocellular carcinoma

The long noncoding RNA HOXC13 antisense RNA (HOXC13-AS) was overexpressed in several tumor specimens, and its overexpression was correlated with cells metastasis of tumors. However, its effects in other tumors remained largely unclear. In this work, we aimed to identify whether HOXC13-AS was abnormally expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and further explore its prognostic value.

QRT-PCR was applied for the examination of HOXC13-AS levels in 197 paired HCC specimens and matched non-tumor specimens. Chi-square tests were carried out for the verification of the relations between the levels of HOXC13-AS and the clinicopathologic features of HCC patients. The Kaplan-Meier methods were applied for the exploration of the prognostic value of HOXC13-AS. Multivariate analysis was performed using the Cox proportional hazard assays.

Up-regulation of HOXC13-AS was observed in HCC tissues compared to matched normal tissues (p < 0.01). Higher levels of HOXC13-AS were associated with TNM stage (p = 0.024) and lymph node metastasis (p = 0.043). Survival assays showed that HCC patients with high-HOXC13-AS expressions had significantly shorter overall survival (p < 0.0106) and disease-free survival (p < 0.0066) compared to their counterparts with low-HOXC13-AS expressions. Multivariate analyses suggested HOXC13-AS as an independent prognostic factor for HCC patients.

We showed that HOXC13-AS might serve as a promising biomarker for prognosis prediction of HCC.