Evaluating long non-coding RNA PRNCR1 in breast cancer

Abstract

Background & Objective: Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies leading to death in women especially in industrial countries. Recent studies revealed that noncoding RNAs play important roles in various cellular activities such as tumor initiation, progression, and resistance to therapy. PRNCR1 is a long noncoding RNA that upregulates in some cancers and through androgen receptor signaling causes carcinogenesis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression pattern of PRNCR1 in breast cancer patients. Material & methods: In the present study, 30 breast tumor specimens and paired adjacent nontumoral tissues were collected from breast cancer women from East Azarbaijan province during the period of 2014-2015 and the expression level of PRNCR1 was evaluated using qRT-PCR. Also, the statistical analysis (t-test) was performed to examine the association between PRNCR1 and clinic-pathologic characteristics of tumor samples. Results: The data revealed that PRNCR1 significantly upregulates in breast tumor tissues compared to the paired adjacent normal tissues. Moreover, overexpression of PRNCR1 in breast tumor tissues was significantly related to tumor size and lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). Conclusion: The results revealed that PRNCR1 significantly dysregulates in breast cancer. Considering its effect on downstream pathways of androgen receptor, suggesting that it might be used as a therapeutic agent, although further studies are required.

Keywords

• breast cancer
• long noncoding rna
• androgen receptor
• prncr1