PART1 expression is associated with poor prognosis and tumor recurrence in stage I-III non-small cell lung cancer

Purpose: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been demonstrated as effective markers for cancer detection and prognosis prediction. The aim of this study was to determine whether tissue PART1 could be used as a biomarker for prognosis prediction of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: PART1 expression was detected in 208 cases of stage I-III NSCLC specimens and adjacent normal tissues. The Cox proportional-hazards regression model was used to analyze the association between PART1 expression and overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) of the patients. Results: It was found that the expression of PART1 was significantly up-regulated in 73.1% (152/208) stage I-III NSCLC specimens compared with adjacent normal tissues. High tissue PART1 expression was associated with shorter OS and could serve as an independent prognostic biomarker in stage I-III NSCLC patients (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.11, 95% CI = 1.18-3.78, P = 0.012). In addition, high tissue PART1 expression indicated poor DFS in stage I-III NSCLC patients (HR = 1.94, 95% CI: 1.37-2.76, P < 0.001). Conclusions: PART1 may prove to be a promising biomarker for prediction of survival and tumor recurrence in stage I-III NSCLC.