Purpose: To elucidate the diagnostic and prognostic potentials of lncRNA AK126393 in bladder cancer.
Methods: The expression levels of AK126393 in 60 matched bladder cancer tissues and paracancerous tissues were determined. In addition, AK126393 level in bladder cancer patients with different tumor staging (stage I-II and stage III-IV) was detected as well. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) was introduced for assessing the diagnostic potential of AK126393 in bladder cancer. Based on the cut-off value of AK126393 in the enrolled 60 bladder cancer patients, they were assigned into high and low expression groups, respectively. Correlation between AK126393 level and pathological indexes of bladder cancer patients was analyzed by chi-square test. By collecting 5-year follow-up data, Kaplan-Meier method was conducted to evaluate survival influenced by AK126393. Moreover, Cox regression model was applied for analyzing potential factors affecting the prognosis of bladder cancer patients.
Results: AK126393 was downregulated in bladder cancer tissues than in paracancerous ones. Its level remained lower in bladder cancer patients with stage III-IV relative to those with stage I-II. ROC illustrated the diagnostic potential of AK126393 in bladder cancer (AUC=0.8647, diagnosis threshold=2.03, sensitivity=76.7%, specificity=96.7%, Youden index=0.734). Besides, lower level of AK126393 was observed in bladder cancer patients with stage III-IV, lymph node metastasis or high-level differentiation. Kaplan-Meier curves demonstrated worse prognosis in bladder cancer patients expressing low level of AK126393. Cox regression analysis showed that AK126393 level, TNM staging, lymph node metastasis and tumor differentiation were independent risk factors influencing the prognosis of bladder cancer.
Conclusions: AK126393 is downregulated in bladder cancer and closely linked to high rate of metastasis, advanced stage and poor prognosis. AK126393 may serve as diagnostic and prognostic hallmark in bladder cancer.