Serum LINC00339 is a promising biomarker for prognosis prediction of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Background: Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in serum were useful and promising biomarkers for diagnostic and prognostic application. Herein, we investigated the serum lncRNA LINC00339 expression and its role in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Methods: In this study, we recruited a cohort of 129 nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients, 68 patients with nasopharyngitis, and 80 healthy controls. Serum LINC00339 levels were measured by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and Kaplan-Meier curve analyses were conducted to evaluate th e clinical role of LINC00339. The effects of linc00339 on cellular activities were measured using CCK-8 and Transwell assays.

Results: We observed that serum LINC00339 expression was upregulated in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients and closely associated with tumor node metastasis stage, lymph node metastasis, and overall survival rate. Meanwhile, ROC analysis showed serum LINC00339 had diagnostic value to distinguish nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients from healthy individuals and nasopharyngitis patients. Silencing of LINC00339 could repress cellular behaviors by targeting miR-152.

Conclusion: This study clarified that LINC00339 was upregulated in nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and that serum LINC00339 may act as a diagnostic or prognostic marker, and a hopeful therapeutic target for patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.