LncRNA FBXL19-AS1 promotes breast cancer cells proliferation and invasion via acting as a molecular sponge to miR-718

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been suggested to serve vital roles in tumor initiation and progression. However, the expression and underlying mechanisms of lncRNA FBXL19-AS1 in breast cancer (BC) remain unclear. In the present study, we found that FBXL19-AS1 expression was significantly up-regulated and correlated with advanced clinical features and poor overall survival of BC patients. Functionally, FBXL19-AS1 inhibition suppressed BC cells proliferation, invasion, and epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) processes in vitro and reduced tumor growth in vivo. In addition, we found that FBXL19-AS1 might function as a ceRNA to sponge miR-718, and miR-718 could rescue the effects of FBXL19-AS1 on BC cells progression. Therefore, these findings suggested that FBXL19-AS1 might serve as an oncogenic lncRNA and promoted BC progression by sponging miR-718, indicating FBXL19-AS1 could serve as a potential therapeutic target for BC treatment.