LncRNA-HEIH is a Novel Diagnostic and Predictive Biomarker in Gastric Cancer

Gastric cancer (GC) is associated with a high mortality rate. Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA)-high expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HEIH) has recently gained interest as a marker for the detection of several cancer types. This study was designed to uncover the function of lncRNA-HEIH in GC. Oncomine was used to analyze HEIH expression in cancerous and paired noncancerous tissues of GC patients. Subsequently, the expression levels of HEIH in GC cells was determined by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). In addition, the effects of HEIH expression level on clinicopathological parameters and prognosis were further studied by statistical analysis and Kaplan-Meier survival curves. GC cell proliferation and the influence of HEIH on the sensitivity of cells to oxaliplatin following HEIH knockdown were assessed using sulforhodamine blue (SRB) assays in the MKN45 and AGS cell lines. In addition, the expression levels of p53 were detected by RT-qPCR following knockdown of HEIH. The lncRNA-HEIH was highly expressed in both GC tissues and GC cell lines. Patients with high HEIH expression were associated with medium-high differentiation (p = 0.0058), distant metastasis (M, p = 0.0378), lymph node metastasis (N, p = 0.0083), and a deeper tumor invasion (T, p = 0.0204). The elevated expression levels of HEIH in GC patients were associated with a worse prognosis compared to GC patients with low HEIH expression. This finding was supported by the parameters overall survival (p = 3.3e-06), first progression (p = 0.00028), and postprogression (p = 1.5e-08). Downregulation of HEIH expression inhibited cell proliferation, enhanced oxaliplatin sensitivity, and induced the expression of p53 in MKN45 and AGC cells. These findings provide evidence that HEIH may be useful as a prognostic biomarker in GC. This lncRNA may also serve as a potential therapeutic target in GC patients.