Abstract
BACKGROUND: The location of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is relatively hidden. Most patients are diagnosed at the middle or late stage of the disease, having missed the best time for treatment. AIM: To explore the clinical value of lncRNA FAM3D-AS1 and its effect on tumor progression and cisplatin resistance in nasopharyngeal cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, a total of 118 NPC patients and 50 healthy volunteers participated. RT-qPCR was analyzed to detect the lncRNA FAM3D-AS1 expression in NPC patients and cells. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC curves), Kaplan-Meier (K-M) survival curves and Cox regression analysis were performed to analyze the clinical value value of lncRNA FAM3D-AS1. Cell functional assays were employed to investigate the impact of lncRNA FAM3D-AS1 on biological malignant behavior of NPC and cisplatin resistance. RESULTS: In NPC patients' serum and cell lines, the expression of lncRNA FAM3D-AS1 was upregulated. ROC curves with Area Under the Curve (AUC) = 0.920, 95%CI = 0.874-0.965 could be used to distinguish the healthy group from the NPC group. K-M survival curves revealed that NPC patients with high expression of lncRNA FAM3D-AS1 had poor prognosis. Cox regression analysis suggested that lncRNA FAM3D-AS1 was an independent prognostic marker for NPC. Knockdown of lncRNA FAM3D-AS1 expression prohibited NPC cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and cisplatin resistance, but promoted apoptosis. CONCLUSION: LncRNA FAM3D-AS1 can be used as a biomarker to diagnose and prognosticate NPC. LncRNA FAM3D-AS1 affects tumor progression and cisplatin resistance in NPC.