TURKISH JOURNAL OF ONCOLOGY 2022 , Vol 37 , Num 3
Evaluation of the Effect of Circulating IncRNAs in Colorectal Cancers: As a Potential Biomarker
Serap ARSLAN1,Murat DİNÇER2,Duygu BAYIR2,Ayla EKER SARIBOYACI3,Ebru ERZURUMLUOĞLU GÖKALP1,Sinem KOCAGİL1,Deniz ARIK4,Hülya ÖZEN5,Beyhan DURAK ARAS1,Sevilhan ARTAN1,Oğuz ÇİLİNGİR1
1Department of Medical Genetics, Eskisehir Osmangazi University of Faculty of Medicine, Eskişehir-Türkiye
2Department of Medical Oncology, Eskisehir Osmangazi University of Faculty of Medicine, Eskişehir-Türkiye
3Department of Stem Cell, Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Cellular Therapy and Stem Cell Production Application and Research Center (ESTEM), Eskişehir-Türkiye
4Department of Pathology, Eskisehir Osmangazi University of Faculty of Medicine, Eskişehir-Türkiye
5Department of Medical Informatics, University of Health Sciences, Gulhane Faculty of Medicine, Ankara-Türkiye DOI : 10.5505/tjo.2022.3575 OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to investigate the possibilities of using the ARHGAP5-AS1, LOC152578, SNHG16, ZNRF3-IT1, CCAT1, CRNDE, and XLOC_000303 circulating lncRNAs as a non-invasive biomarker in colorectal cancers (CRCs).

METHODS
In this study, we enrolled plasma samples of 65 CRC patients (50 stages III/IV and 15 stages I/II) and plasma samples of 31 individuals in the control group of similar ages. Thereafter, we performed plasma separation and total RNA extraction; then, RNAs were reversely transcribed to complementary DNA. And then, we analyzed using a quantitative real?time polymerase chain reaction technique for lncRNA expression analysis.

RESULTS
Our results showed that the expression levels of ZNRF3IT1 (p=0.011), CCAT1 (p=0.007), CRNDE (p=0.002), and XLOC_000303 (p=0.001) were significantly upregulated in the CRC when it was compared to with the control group. ZNRF3IT1, CCAT1, CRNDE, and XLOC_000303 lncRNAs were observed to have similar discriminating power. The calculated area under the curve of receiver operating characteristic was 0.66, 0.67, 0.70, and 0.70, respectively.

CONCLUSION
Our results revealed a high discriminatory power of ZNRF3-IT1, CCAT1, CRNDE, and XLOC_000303 lncRNA in distinguishing CRC patients from healthy individuals. We also found that increased XLOC_000303 expression is a protective factor against metastasis formation. This study demonstrated that ZNRF3-IT1, CCAT1, CRNDE, and XLOC_000303 circulating lncRNAs may be used as a potential non-invasive biomarker in CRC. We think that the increased expression of XLOC_000303 may be a protective factor against metastasis formation. Keywords : Circulating lncRNA; colorectal cancer; plasma; real-time polymerase chain reaction