Elucidating the Role of LINC01980 in Laryngeal Cancer: From Expression Profiling to Regulatory Network Prediction

Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) remains a significant global health challenge despite advances in treatment. This study investigated the involvement of LINC01980, a long non-coding RNA, in LSCC pathogenesis. We conducted an integrative analysis of transcriptomic data sourced from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases to identify genes that are differentially expressed in LSCC. LINC01980 expression was evaluated in 32 matched pairs of advanced-stage LSCC and adjacent normal tissues using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The potential competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network involving LINC01980 was explored through bioinformatics analyses. Findings revealed significant upregulation of LINC01980 in LSCC tissues compared to normal adjacent tissues (p < 0.0001), with elevated expression in 78.125% of tumor samples. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis demonstrated LINC01980's potential as a diagnostic biomarker (AUC = 0.7666, p = 0.0002). While no significant correlations were found between LINC01980 expression and clinicopathological features, bioinformatics analyses identified potential LINC01980/ miRNA/ mRNA regulatory network involving hsa-let-7e-5p and hub gene MMP9. This study provides insights into LINC01980's role in LSCC and suggests its potential as a diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target. Further research is warranted to elucidate the precise molecular mechanisms of LINC01980 in LSCC progression.