Prognostic value and potential mechanism of long non-coding RNA Lnc-SMIM20-1 in acute myeloid leukemia

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a common hematologic malignancy with high heterogeneity and poor prognosis. Although long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been used as biomarkers for tumors, the clinical relevance of numerous lncRNAs in AML remains to be investigated.

Differentially expressed lncRNAs between AML and normal peripheral blood samples were identified using DESeq2. Pan-cancer analysis was performed by GEPIA tool. Kaplan-Meier survival curve was applied for prognosis analysis. KEGG pathway analysis and GSEA were used for functional enrichment. The ceRNA network was constructed by GDCRNAtools.

Lnc-SMIM20-1 was most highly expressed in AML and up-regulated in the TCGA-AML cohort compared to normal tissues. Patients with high expression of Lnc-SMIM20-1 had poor overall prognosis both in the TCGA adult AML cohort and the TARGET pediatric AML cohort, no matter whether they were treated with chemotherapy or allo-HSCT. Lnc-SMIM20-1 might participate in cancer-associated signaling pathways and immune-related signaling pathways by interacting with four microRNAs and 20 mRNAs.

Lnc-SMIM20-1 was up-regulated in AML acting as a stable poor prognostic factor. The prognostic impact of Lnc-SMIM20-1 cannot be overcome by allo-HSCT. Our findings provide insight into the clinical relevance of Lnc-SMIM20-1 in AML; aiming to progress the development of novel therapeutics.