Three-lncRNA signature is a potential prognostic biomarker for pancreatic adenocarcinoma

// Xiuhui Shi 1 , Yan Zhao 1 , Ruizhi He 1 , Min Zhou 1 , Shutao Pan 1 , Shuo Yu 1 , Yu Xie 1 , Xu Li 1 , Min Wang 1 , Xingjun Guo 1 and Renyi Qin 1 1 Department of Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery, Affiliated Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China Correspondence to: Renyi Qin, email: ryqin@tjh.tjmu.edu.cn Xingjun Guo, email: xjguo@tjh.tjmu.edu.cn Keywords: long noncoding RNA; pancreatic adenocarcinoma; TCGA; ceRNA; prognosis Received: August 23, 2017 Accepted: February 01, 2018 Epub: February 08, 2018 Published: May 11, 2018 ABSTRACT Pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD) is a highly aggressive and metastatic cancer characterized by poor survival rates. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in various biological processes, including cancer and PAAD. To identify the specific lncRNAs associated with PAAD and analyze their function, we constructed a global triple network based on the competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) theory and RNA-seq data from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Using 182 PAAD cases, we established a lncRNA–miRNA–mRNA co-expression network, which was composed of 43 lncRNA nodes, 253 mRNA nodes, 11 miRNA nodes, and 475 edges. Six lncRNAs in the ceRNA network were closely related to overall survival, and a three-lncRNA signature predicted survival of PAAD patients. Protein–protein interaction network data revealed that five genes were associated with overall survival. These results provide novel insight into the function of a lncRNA-associated ceRNA network in the pathogenesis of PAAD, and indicate that the identified three-lncRNA signature may serve as an independent prognostic marker in PAAD.