Immune-Related Long Non-Coding RNA Pairs in Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) is the most common squamous cell carcinoma; However, according to Lvsheng Qian and colleagues, little is known about associations between LSCC and immune-related long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) pairs. In the authors’ article, published in BMC Cancer, they presented their experience developing a predictive model based on seven immune-related lncRNA pairs, which “demonstrated a better prognostic ability for LSCC patients and may assist clinicians to precisely prescribe chemo drugs.”

Researchers reviewed transcriptome profiling data and corresponding clinical characteristics from 111 patients with LSCC and 12 normal samples within The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. The authors explained that “a series of bioinformatic analysis was conducted to select the differently expressed immune-related lncRNAs and build a signature of immune-related lncRNA pairs.”

Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma and LncRNA Pairs Results

A total of 301 immune-related lncRNAs with aberrant expressions were identified, and the investigators established 35,225 lncRNA pairs. “After univariate Cox analysis, LASSO regression and multivariate Cox analysis, 7 lncRNA pairs were eventually selected to construct a signature,” according to the authors. They designed the following lncRNA pairs formula for calculating riskscore: Riskscore = 0.95 × (AL133330.1|AC132872.3) + (-1.23)  × (LINC01094|LINC02154) + 0.65 × (LINC02575|AC122685.1) + (-1.15)  × (MIR9-3HG|LINC01748) + 1.45 × (AC092687.3|SNHG12) + (-0.87)  × (AC090204.1|AL158166.1) + 0.64 × (LINC01063|Z82243.1).

The high-risk group was defined as a score over 1.366, while the low-risk classification was defined as a score under 1.366. Reportedly, “the riskscore was better than other clinical characteristics in prognostic prediction and the area under the curves (AUCs) for the 1-, 3-, and 5-year survivals were 0.796, 0.946, and 0.895, respectively.”

Following validation of their seven lncRNA pair signature, the authors developed a nomograph that combined age, gender, grade, stage, and riskscore to predictive survival outcomes in patients with LSCC.

The authors did acknowledge that their study was limited by the “relatively insufficient” data on patients with LSCC in the TCGA dataset, and also due to the fact that some of the lncRNAs used in the signature “have not been published before, limiting validation by other databases.”

Ultimately, however, the authors proposed that their immune-related lncRNA pair signature-based riskscore and subsequent prognostic nomogram was effective at predicting survival outcomes in patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma in the TCGA data.

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