Overexpression of Long Non-Coding RNA POU3F3 in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma is Associated with TNM Stage and Family History

Background and objectives: Esophageal cancer (EC) is the second most common gastrointestinal cancer, and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is the dominant type of EC in Iran. One of the most important challenges in cancer management is the early diagnosis. As tumor suppressors or oncogenes, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play a vital role in tumor initiation, progression and metastasis. Recent studies have reported that assessing expression of lncRNAs might have prognostic or diagnostic potential for ESCC. In this study, we evaluated expression of lnc-POU3F3 in ESCC and its relationship with some clinical features of the disease. Methods: Blood samples from 32 cancer patients (18 males and 14 females) and 32 healthy individuals were collected from the Biobank of Sayyad Shirazi Hospital and the Danesh Medical Diagnostic Laboratory in Gorgan (Golestan Province, Iran), respectively. The subjects were matched in terms of age and gender. Following total RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis, quantitative real-time PCR was performed using RealQ Plus 2x Master Mix Green (Ampliqon, Denmark) in the ABI Applied Biosystems 7300 device. Results: The lnc-POU3F3 was significantly overexpressed in samples from ESCC patients compared to controls. The increased lnc-POU3F3 expression was significantly correlated with family history (P=0.03) and TNM stage (P=0.02). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that lnc-POU3F3 may be used as a diagnostic biomarker for ESCC. However, further studies with a larger sample size are required to confirm this finding.