Abstract
Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) has been indicated to have an important role in various types of malignant tumors; however, only a small number of lncRNAs have been entirely elucidated. In the present study, a novel lncRNA, actin filament associated protein 1 antisense RNA 1 (AFAP1-AS1), was investigated, which is highly expressed in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and in situ hybridization were performed to detect AFAP1-AS1 expression in frozen tissues and tissue microarrays, respectively. The results revealed that the expression level of AFAP1-AS1 was significantly increased in tumor tissues, compared with the paired non-cancerous tissues. It was also determined that the AFAP1-AS1 expression level was higher in patients with lymph node metastasis than those without lymph node metastasis (P=0.014). Kaplan-Meier analysis was conducted to evaluate the overall survival of patients with NSCLC and different expression levels of AFAP1-AS1, and the results indicated that patients with high AFAP1-AS1 expression had a reduced survival time, compared with those with low AFAP1-AS1 expression (P=0.011). Cox regression analysis was also performed to analyze the prognostic value of lncRNA AFAP1-AS1. The obtained data demonstrated that lncRNA AFAP1-AS1 was an unfavorable prognostic biomarker for NSCLC (HR: 3.12, 95% CI (1.05-9.25), P=0.040). In conclusion, it was demonstrated that lncRNA AFAP1-AS1 is overexpressed in NSCLC and an unfavorable biomarker for patients with NSCLC.