Expression of long non-coding RNA ZEB1-AS1 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and its correlation with tumor progression and patient survival

Background: LncRNA ZEB1-AS1 has been identified as a tumor oncogene in hepatocellular carcinoma. However, the clinical significance in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is still unknown. The aim of this study was to explore ZEB1-AS1 expression levels and evaluated its clinical significance in ESCC patients. Methods: LNCRNA ZEB1-AS1 expression was determined by quantitative real-time PCR (QRT-PCR) in 87 pairs of ESCC specimens and adjacent non-tumor tissues. Then, the association of ZEB1-AS1 expression with clinicopathological factors or survival of ESCC patients were determined. Results: LNCRNA ZEB1-AS1 was found up-regulated in ESCC tissues compared to adjacent non-tumor tissues. Increased lncRNA ZEB1-AS1 expression was significantly associated with tumor grade, depth of invasion, and lymph node metastasis. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that ESCC patients with high ZEB1-AS1 expression had a poorer overall survival and disease-free survival. Furthermore, multivariate analysis suggested that ZEB1-AS1 expression was identified as an independent prognostic factor in patients with ESCC. Conclusion: These results indicated that lncRNA ZEB1-AS1 was associated with tumor progression and could be an independent prognostic factor for ESCC patients.