Salivary HOTAIR and PVT1 as novel biomarkers for early pancreatic cancer

Sensitive and non-invasive biomarkers for pancreatic cancer (PC) are lacking. We aimed to identify salivary long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) as biomarkers in diagnosis of resectable PC. Five well-documented lncRNAs: H19, HOTAIR, HOTTIP, MALAT1, PVT1, which are most closely associated with pancreatic cancer from previous studies were selected as putative lncRNA biomarkers. Their expression in pancreatic tissues and saliva of cancer patients and healthy controls was measured by quantification polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Compared with benign pancreatic tumour (BPT) and normal pancreatic tissues (NPT), HOTAIR, HOTTIP and PVT1 were significantly up-regulated in pancreatic cancer tissues (PCT). As compared to BPT or healthy groups, the salivary levels of HOTAIR and PVT1 were significantly higher in PC group. They were significantly reduced after the curative pancreatectomy. Both salivary lncRNAs distinguished PC patients from healthy controls and BPT patients with sensitivities and specificities ranging from 60–97%. The expression of salivary HOTAIR and PVT1 did not differ significantly between healthy controls and any one of eight leading cancers worldwide. Collectively, our findings indicate that salivary HOTAIR and PVT1 show potential as novel non-invasive biomarkers for detecting PC.