BACKGROUND: The expression of long noncoding RNA HOX antisense RNA (HOTAIR) is abnormal in a variety of tumors. The aim of this study is to explore the serum levels and clinical significance of HOTAIR in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: The serum levels of HOTAIR were detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 64 NSCLC patients and 64 normal controls. The relationships between the serum levels of HOTAIR and clinical pathological parameters were analyzed. RESULTS: Compared with normal controls, the serum levels of HOTAIR in patients with NSCLC increased significantly (P<0.01). The serum levels of HOTAIR were correlated with tumor size, tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage and lymph node metastasis (P<0.05), but not with age, gender, smoking, differentiation and histology (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The serum levels of HOTAIR in patients with NSCLC are significantly higher, and HOTAIR may be involved in the pathogenesis of NSCLC.
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Tan et al. (2017) studied this question.