Identification and validation of stemness-related lncRNA prognostic signature for breast cancer

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as crucial contributors to the development of breast cancer and are involved in the stemness regulation of breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs). LncRNAs are closely associated with the prognosis of breast cancer patients. It is critical to identify BCSC-related lncRNAs with prognostic value in breast cancer.

A co-expression network of BCSC-related mRNAs-lncRNAs from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) was constructed. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards analyses were used to identify a stemness risk model with prognostic value. Kaplan-Meier analysis, univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were performed to validate the risk model. Principal component analysis (PCA) and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) functional annotation were conducted to analyze the risk model.

In this study, BCSC-related lncRNAs in breast cancer were identified. We evaluated the prognostic value of these BCSC-related lncRNAs and eventually obtained a prognostic risk model consisting of 12 BCSC-related lncRNAs (Z68871.1, LINC00578, AC097639.1, AP003119.3, AP001207.3, LINC00668, AL122010.1, AC245297.3, LINC01871, AP000851.2, AC022509.2 and SEMA3B-AS1). The risk model was further verified as a novel independent prognostic factor for breast cancer patients based on the calculated risk score. Moreover, based on the risk model, the low- risk and high-risk groups displayed different stemness statuses.

These findings suggested that the 12 BCSC-related lncRNA signature might be a promising prognostic factor for breast cancer and can promote the management of BCSC-related therapy in clinical practice.