Downregulation of long non-coding RNAs PCAT18, HOTAIR, and CTBP1-AS in prostate malignancies

Prostate cancer (PCa) ranks as the fifth most prevalent cancer type globally, with its incidence rising due to lifestyle changes. The prognosis significantly worsens at the metastatic stage, with a 5-year survival rate dropping to 30%.

This study focuses on the androgen signaling pathway's role in PCa etiology and aims to identify molecular mechanisms that could serve as potential biomarkers for early diagnosis of the disease in a population of Iranian men.

We analyzed the expression levels of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) PCAT18, CTBP1 antisense RNA (CTBP1-AS), and HOTAIR in blood samples from 30 PCa patients and 30 individuals with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). RT-PCR and specific primers were used for quantification.

We observed a significant downregulation of PCAT18, HOTAIR and CTBP1-AS in the PCa cohort compared to BPH. ROC curve analysis revealed HOTAIR as the most promising biomarker, with an area under the curve of 0.6897. Further analysis indicated that PCAT18 and HOTAIR demonstrate considerable sensitivity and specificity for distinguishing PCa from BPH, suggesting their potential utility in clinical diagnosis and prognosis evaluation. Significant correlation was found between LNCRNAs expression and demographic information for CTBP1-AS expression vs. size of tumor, PCAT18 expression vs. PSA and PCAT18 expression vs. grade. These results implying that lncRNAs dysregulation may be more indicative of cancer biology.

These findings highlight the importance of CTBP1, PCAT18 and HOTAIR as potential biomarkers in prostate cancer and underscore the necessity for further investigation into their roles in cancer progression and therapeutic strategies.