Downregulation of long non-coding RNA LINC-PINT serves as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in patients with non-small cell lung cancer

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in gene regulation. Several lncRNAs have been demonstrated to be associated with the diagnosis and prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The present study aimed to investigate the role of lncRNA long intragenic non-protein-coding RNA p53-induced transcript (LINC-PINT) in NSCLC to identify a novel non-invasive biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of patients with NSCLC. Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR analysis was performed to detect LINC-PINT expression in the tissue and serum samples of patients with NSCLC. The diagnostic and prognostic values of LINC-PINT were assessed via the receiver operating characteristic curve, and Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses, respectively. The results demonstrated that LINC-PINT expression was significantly downregulated in NSCLC serum samples and tissues. In addition, serum LINC-PINT exhibited diagnostic value in patients with NSCLC, and may be used to predict prognosis. Furthermore, aberrant LINC-PINT expression in tumor tissues was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis, tumor size, differentiation and TNM stage. Taken together, the results of the present study suggest that lncRNA LINC-PINT may be an independent diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in NSCLC.