Background: NSCLC is one of the most common and most lethal malignancies throughout the world, and there is still a lack of sensitive diagnostic biomarkers. Identifying novel NSCLC biomarkers can help with the diagnosis and clinical decision-making.
Methods: Identifying the differentially expressed circRNAs in three cases of NSCLC tissues by high-throughput circRNA microarray sequencing. qRT-PCR was employed to detect the expression levels of hsa_circRNA_012515 in 80 cases of NSCLC tissues (tumor resection patients) and 60 cases of peripheral blood samples (chemotherapy patients), NSCLC cells and gefitinib-resistant NSCLC cell lines. Then combining with clinical data, we discussed whether it was feasible to use hsa_circRNA_012515 as the diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for NSCLC.
Results: In the cancerous tissues from NSCLC patients, NSCLC cells and gefitinib-resistant cell lines, the average expressions of hsa_circRNA_012515 increased significantly (P< 0.01). Patients of stage III–IV, with lymph node metastases, had an overexpression of hsa_circRNA_012515. High expression of hsa_circRNA_012515 was associated with lower OS and shorter PFS, and it is closely related to the prognosis of the patients. Bioinformatic analysis indicated that hsa_circRNA_012515 interacted with 5 miRNAs. This finding may shed new light on the subsequent studies on the working mechanism and functions.
Conclusion: Our study showed that hsa_circRNA_012515 may be a novel biomarker candidate for NSCLC. However, further studies are needed to ascertain the working mechanism of hsa_circRNA_012515 in the occurrence and development of NSCLC.
Keywords: non-small cell lung cancer, circRNAs, hsa_circRNA_012515, biomarker