Value of circular RNA 0007385 in disease monitoring and prognosis estimation in non–small‐cell lung cancer patients

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the circular RNA_0007385 (hsa_circ_0007385) expression in tumor/adjacent non‐tumor tissues, and the correlation of its tumor expression with clinicopathological features as well as survival in non–small‐cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. METHODS: 210 NSCLC patients who underwent tumor resection were reviewed in this retrospective study. 210 tumor specimens and 81 paired adjacent specimens were collected, in which the hsa_circ_0007385 expression was detected by reverse transcription‐quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay. Disease‐free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were recorded, and the last follow‐up date was June 30, 2019. RESULTS: Hsa_circ_0007385 was upregulated in tumor tissue compared with adjacent non‐tumor tissue (P < .001), and ROC curve analysis revealed that hsa_circ_0007385 expression had an excellent value in distinguishing tumor tissue from adjacent non‐tumor tissue with an area under curve of 0.922 (95% CI: 0.890‐0.953). Tumor hsa_circ_0007385 high expression correlated with lymph node metastasis (P = .007) and higher TNM stage (P = .004). In addition, DFS (P = .028) and OS (P = .008) were both less favorable in patients with tumor hsa_circ_0007385 high expression compared to patients with tumor hsa_circ_0007385 low expression. Besides, the DFS (P = .008) and OS (P = .012) were also the worst in patients with tumor hsa_circ_0007385 high+++ expression, followed by patients with tumor hsa_circ_0007385 high++ expression and patients with tumor hsa_circ_0007385 high + expression, and the best in patients with tumor hsa_circ_0007385 low expression. Multivariate regression analysis elucidated that tumor hsa_circ_0007385 high expression independently predicted worse OS (P = .033). CONCLUSION: Tumor hsa_circ_0007385 could be a novel biomarker for disease monitoring and prognosis prediction in NSCLC patients.