Increased expression of long noncoding RNA HMMR-AS1 in epithelial ovarian cancer: an independent prognostic factor.

OBJECTIVE: Evidence has indicated that long noncoding RNA (lncRNAs) may have significant roles in cancer. In this study, we aimed to investigate the expression pattern and prognostic value of a noncoding RNA named as HMMR antisense RNA 1 (HMMR-AS1) in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Differences in the expression of HMMR-AS1 between EOC and matched normal tissues were analyzed using RT-PCR. The correlation between HMMR-AS1 levels and the clinicopathological factors of the EOC patients was analyzed by x(2)-test. Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards regression models were explored to reveal the correlations of HMMR-AS1 expression with survival of patients. RESULTS: HMMR-AS1 was significantly up-regulated in human EOC tissues compared with adjacent normal tissues (p < 0.01). Clinicopathologic analysis revealed that high expression of HMMR-AS1 was associated with advanced FIGO stage (p = 0.013) and positive lymphatic metastasis (p = 0.010). Moreover, patients with higher HMMR-AS1 expression displayed shorter overall survival time (p = 0.0075) and progression-free survival time (p = 0.0013) than those with lower HMMR-AS1 expression. More importantly, multivariate analysis suggested that high expression of HMMR-AS1 was an independent prognostic indicator for EOC patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggested that HMMR-AS1 may be considered a novel prognostic factor in EOC and a specific diagnostic indicator for patients with EOC.