AUTHOR=Bi Zhao , Qiu Peng-Fei , Zhang Yue , Song Xing-Guo , Chen Peng , Xie Li , Wang Yong-Sheng , Song Xian-Rang TITLE=A Three lncRNA Set: AC009975.1, POTEH-AS1 and AL390243.1 as Nodal Efficacy Biomarker of Neoadjuvant Therapy for HER-2 Positive Breast Cancer JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology VOLUME=11 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2021.779140 DOI=10.3389/fonc.2021.779140 ISSN=2234-943X ABSTRACT=Purpose

The study aimed to explore whether the expression of lncRNAs in primary tumors could predict nodal efficacy after neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) for HER2+ breast cancer.

Methods

Total RNA was extracted from HER2+ breast cancer tissues before NAT (n=103) and from 48 pairs of cancers and para-cancers tissues that did not receive NAT. Different lncRNAs were selected by microarray, validated by qPCR, and analyzed to illuminate their potential as nodal efficacy biomarkers after NAT.

Results

Our results demonstrated that three lncRNA sets, lncRNA-AL390243.1, POTEH-AS1, and lncRNA-AC009975.1, were up-regulated in non-apCR tissues. The AUC value was 0.789 (95%CI: 0.703-0.876). The multivariate logistic regression analysis identified the expression of lncRNA-AL390243.1 (OR 5.143; 95% CI: 1.570-16.847), tumor type (OR 0.144; 95% CI: 0.024-0.855), and nodal stage (OR 0.507; 95% CI: 0.289-0.888) as independent predictors for apCR after NAT in HER2+ patients (all p<0.05). Then the three predictors were used to create a predictive nomogram. The AUC value was 0.859 (95%CI: 0.790-0.929). The calibration curve showed a satisfactory fit between predictive and actual observation based on internal validation with a bootstrap resampling frequency of 1000. Patients with higher expression of lncRNA-AL390243.1 had worse survival. LncRNA-AL390243.1 was up-regulated more in the nodal positive subgroup than in the nodal negative subgroup (p=0.0271).

Conclusion

The lncRNA-AL390243.1, POTEH-AS1, and lncRNA-AC009975.1 were upregulated in non-apCR breast cancer tissues. These three lncRNAs might have the potential to be used as predictive biomarkers of nodal efficacy of HER2+ breast cancer. Further studies are required to illuminate the underlying molecular mechanisms further.