Down-regulation of long non-coding RNA AFAP1-AS1 inhibits tumor cell growth and invasion in lung adenocarcinoma

An increasing number of deregulated long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) have been implicated in cancer in humans, suggesting that lncRNAs may be involved in tumorigenesis or tumor progression. In previous investigations, lncRNA, AFAP1-AS1 has been found to be associated with several cancers, including nasopharyngeal carcinoma, lung cancer and esophageal adenocarcinoma. However, the function of AFAP1-AS1 in lung cancer has not been reported. In our present study, we found that AFAP1-AS1 was overexpressed in lung adenocarcinoma and associated with survival time. The low expression of AFAP1-AS1 was an independent predictor for disease-free survival in patients with lung adenocarcinoma. Additionally, we transfected AFAP1-AS1 siRNA into H1975 and HCC827, both lung adenocarcinoma cancer cells, and found that cell growth was suppressed, apoptosis induced and invasion inhibited. Taken together, AFAP1-AS1 down-regulation exerts growth suppression and apoptosis induction in lung adenocarcinoma cells, suggested it may participate in turmorigenesis and be a therapeutic target for treating lung adenocarcinoma in future.