The Application of Clinical Genetics (Aug 2022)

Long Non-Coding RNAs ASB16-AS1 and AFAP1-AS1: Diagnostic, Prognostic Impact and Survival Analysis in Colorectal Cancer

  • Elabd NS,
  • Soliman SE,
  • Elhamouly MS,
  • Gohar SF,
  • Elgamal A,
  • Alabassy MM,
  • Soliman HA,
  • Gadallah AA,
  • Elbahr OD,
  • Soliman G,
  • Saleh AA

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 15
pp. 97 – 109

Abstract

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Naglaa S Elabd,1 Shimaa E Soliman,2 Moamena S Elhamouly,1 Suzy F Gohar,3 Ayman Elgamal,4 Mahmoud Magdy Alabassy,5 Haitham A Soliman,5 Abdelnaser A Gadallah,6 Osama D Elbahr,7 Ghada Soliman,3 Amany A Saleh2 1Tropical Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine - Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt; 2Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt; 3Clinical Oncology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt; 4Fellow of Tropical Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine - Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt; 5General Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt; 6Internal Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt; 7Hepatology and Gastroenterology Department, National Liver Institute, Menoufia University, Menoufia, EgyptCorrespondence: Naglaa S Elabd, Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine - Menoufia University- Egypt, Cairo, Egypt, Tel +201092304322, Email [email protected]: We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic roles of AFAP1-AS1 and ASB16-AS1 in colorectal cancer and highlight their roles in predicting colorectal cancer patients’ prognosis.Methods: In this case–control study, 146 participants were involved. Group I included 47 patients with CRC. Group II composed of 49 patients with benign lesions in the colon, and Group III included 50 apparently normal subjects of coincided age and gender as controls. All participants were subjected to clinical and endoscopic evaluations, CA19-9, CEA, and quantification of relative expression of lncRNAs ASB16-AS1 and AFAP1-AS1.Results: CRC patients had significantly elevated expression levels of both lncRNAs in tissue and plasma samples versus benign and control groups (p < 0.001). Despite the higher sensitivity of tissue samples results, the relative expression of both lncRNAs in plasma samples was very encouraging in the discrimination between patients with CRC versus control and benign groups. Furthermore, both lncRNAs could discriminate patients with early-stage CRC (stage I&II) from being colonic lesion and control groups with better sensitivity and specificity presented by ASB16-AS1 in tissue and plasma than results detailed by AFAP1-AS1. High expression levels of ASB16-AS1 in tissue and plasma and tissue lncRNA AFAP1-AS1 are significantly correlated with decreased overall survival (p < 0.001) and reduced progression-free (p < 0.001) compared to low expression in CRC patients.Conclusion: We propose the utilization of lncRNA ASB16-AS1 and lncRNA AFAP1-AS1 as biomarkers in diagnosis and prognosis estimation for CRC patients. Moreover, their value in early CRC patients may affect the assortment of target therapy and treatment protocols.Keywords: CRC, expression, lncRNA, overall survival, progression-free survival

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