Long Noncoding RNAs Expression Patterns Associated with Chemo Response to Cisplatin Based Chemotherapy in Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients

BACKGROUND There is large variability among lung squamous cell carcinoma patients in response to treatment with cisplatin based chemotherapy. LncRNA is potentially a new type of predictive marker that can identify subgroups of patients who benefit from chemotherapy and it will have great value for treatment guidance. METHODS Differentially expressed lncRNAs and mRNA were identified using microarray profiling of tumors with partial response (PR) vs. with progressive disease (PD) from advanced lung squamous cell carcinoma patients treated with cisplatin based chemotherapy and validated by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). Furthermore, the expression of AC006050.3-003 was assessed in another 60 tumor samples. RESULTS Compared with the PD samples, 953 lncRNAs were consistently upregulated and 749 lncRNAs were downregulated consistently among the differentially expressed lncRNAs in PR samples (Fold Change≥2.0-fold, p <0.05). Pathway analyses showed that some classical pathways, including "Nucleotide excision repair," that participated in cisplatin chemo response were differentially expressed between PR and PD samples. Coding-non-coding gene co-expression network identified many lncRNAs, such as lncRNA AC006050.3-003, that potentially played a key role in chemo response. The expression of lncRNA AC006050.3-003 was significantly lower in PR samples compared to the PD samples in another 60 lung squamous cell carcinoma patients. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed that lncRNA AC006050.3-003 was a valuable biomarker for differentiating PR patients from PD patients with an area under the curve of 0.887 (95% confidence interval 0.779, 0.954). CONCLUSIONS LncRNAs seem to be involved in cisplatin-based chemo response and may serve as biomarkers for treatment response and candidates for therapy targets in lung squamous cell carcinoma.