Clinical significance of long noncoding RNA SPRY4‐IT1 in melanoma patients

Long noncoding RNA SPRY4‐IT1 has been reported to promote melanoma cell growth and invasion, and to block apoptosis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical significance of SPRY4‐IT1 in patients with malignant melanoma. The relative expression levels of SPRY4‐IT1 were measured in plasma samples from 70 patients and 79 healthy controls by quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. SPRY4‐IT1 expression is high in melanoma patients but low in healthy controls, and is closely associated with tumor site and tumor stage. Elevated SPRY4‐IT1 significantly reduces overall survival rates of patients and is considered as an independent prognostic factor in patients with melanoma. The prognostic nomogram shows a good prediction of the probability of 5‐year overall survival of patients with melanoma (c‐index: 0.72). The calibration curve for the probability of survival presents good agreement between actual outcomes and predictive consequences. In summary, SPRY4‐IT1 may be a potential prognostic marker and a potential therapeutic target.