The Clinical Value of Long Noncoding RNA DDX11-AS1 as a Biomarker for the Diagnosis and Prognosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a high-mortality malignant tumor with genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity, making predicting clinical outcomes challenging. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the potential usefulness of lncRNA DDX11 antisense RNA 1 (DDX11-AS1) as a biomarker for diagnosis and prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The TCGA-LIHC datasets were searched for patients’ clinical information and RNA-seq data, which were then collected. Relative expression levels of DDX11-AS1 in HCC tissues were determined by qRT-PCR. In order to test the sensitivity and specificity of the DDX11-AS1 receiver, receiver operating characteristic curves were utilized. The association of DDX11-AS1 expression with clinicopathological factors or prognosis was statistically analyzed. We found that the levels of DDX11-AS1 were higher in HCC specimens than in normal specimens. ROC analysis showed that DDX11-AS1 was a useful marker for discriminating HCC tissues from normal nontumor specimens. According to the results of clinical tests, a high level of DDX11-AS1 expressions was significantly related to the pathologic stage ( $p=0.015$ ) and the histologic grade ( $p<0.001$ ). Survival studies indicated that patients with higher DDX11-AS1 expression had a significantly poorer overall survival ( $p=0.005$ ) and progression-free interval ( $p=0.003$ ) than those with lower DDX11-AS1 expression. Multivariate survival analysis verified that DDX11-AS1 expression level was an independent predictor for HCC patients. Overall, DDX11-AS1 may serve as a tumor promotor during HCC progression, and its high level may be a potential marker for HCC patients.