Original articleOver-expression of CircRNA_100876 in non-small cell lung cancer and its prognostic value

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a novel type of endogenous RNAs featuring stable structure and high tissue-specific expression. Recently, accumulating evidence has revealed that aberrant circRNAs expression plays important roles in carcinogenesis and tumor progression. However, the expression pattern and biological function of circRNAs in non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remain largely unknown. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to clarify the possible role of one of typical circRNAs, circRNA_100876 in NSCLC and to define its prognostic value in NSCLC. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to detect the expression of circRNA_100876 in tumor tissues and their adjacent nontumorous tissues in 101 patients with NSCLC. We found that the expression level of circRNA_100876 was significantly elevated in NSCLC tissues when compared with their adjacent nontumorous tissues (P = 0.000). Moreover, there was a close correlation between the circRNA_100876 up-regulation expression and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.001) and tumor staging (P = 0.001) in NSCLC. In addition, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis demonstrated that the overall survival time of NSCLC patients with high circRNA_100876 expression was significantly shorter than those patients with low circRNA_100876 expression (P = 0.000). In conclusion, our findings indicate that circRNA_100876 is closely related to the carcinogenesis of NSCLC and it might be served as a potential prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for NSCLC.