Evaluation of the Prognostic Value of Long Noncoding RNAs in Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) is the most common type of lung cancer accounting for 40% to 51%. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been reported to play a significant role in the invasion, migration, and proliferation of lung cancer tissue cells. However, systematic identification of lncRNA signatures and evaluation of the prognostic value for LUSC are still an urgent problem. In this work, LUSC RNA-seq data were collected from TCGA database, and the limma R package was used to screen differentially expressed lncRNAs (DElncRNAs). In total, 216 DElncRNAs were identified between the LUSC and normal samples. lncRNAs associated with prognosis were calculated using univariate Cox regression analysis. The overall survival (OS) prognostic model containing 10 lncRNAs and the disease-free survival (DFS) prognostic model consisting of 11 lncRNAs were constructed using a machine learning-based algorithm, systematic LASSO-Cox regression analysis. We found that the survival rate of samples in the high-risk group was lower than that in the low-risk group. Results of ROC curves showed that both the OS and DFS risk score had better prognostic effects than the clinical characteristics, including age, stage, gender, and TNM. Two lncRNAs (LINC00519 and FAM83A-AS1) that were commonly identified as prognostic factors in both models could be further investigated for their clinical significance and therapeutic value. In conclusion, we constructed lncRNA prognostic models with considerable prognostic effect for both OS and DFS of LUSC.