lncRNAs are novel biomarkers for differentiating between cisplatin-resistant and cisplatin-sensitive ovarian cancer

Cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer occurs in patients with ovarian cancer treated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy, which results in tumor progression during treatment, or recurrence of the tumor within 6 months of the treatment. It is vital that a novel biomarker for diagnosis, or an efficient therapeutic target of cisplatin-resistant ovarian is identified. Long non-coding (lnc)RNAs were determined to serve critical functions in a variety of distinct types of cancer, including ovarian cancer; however, there is limited knowledge regarding the differential expression levels of lncRNAs in cisplatin-resistant and cisplatin-sensitive ovarian cancer. Therefore, in the present study, the expression levels were determined for these cancer types. The lncRNA expression profile in cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer was analyzed and compared with the results for cisplatin-sensitive ovarian cancer; gene ontology and pathway analysis demonstrated that the dysregulated lncRNAs participated in important biological processes. Subsequently, it was identified that these dysregulated lncRNAs were present in other ovarian cancer tissues and in SKOV3 ovarian cancer cells, as well as its cisplatin-resistant clone, SKOV3/CDDP. In addition, it was revealed that 8 lncRNAs (Enst0000435726, Enst00000585612, Enst00000566734, Enst00000453783, NR_023915, RP11_697E22.2, uc010jub.1 and tcons_00008505) were associated with cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer. The present study may assist in improving understanding of the initiation and developmental mechanisms underlying cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer, which could aid future studies in discovering potential biomarkers for diagnosis or therapeutic targets that may be used in clinical treatment.