Increased Expression of PCNA-AS1 in Colorectal Cancer and its Clinical Association.

Background: The aim is to study the expression of PCNA-AS1 in colorectal cancer (CRC) tissue and paired-adjacent normal tissue and the relationship between its expression level and clinical pathological features.

Methods: Using real-time qPCR, PCNA-AS1 expression levels were detected in 114 cases to establish the relationship between its expression and clinicopathologic features. Moreover, the expressions of PCNA-AS1 were investigated in CRC and normal colonic epithelial cell lines.

Results: PCNA-AS1 was upregulated in CRC patients. The difference was statistically significant (p < 0.001). The expression level was significantly correlated with the tumor invasion and TNM stage. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, sensitivity, and specificity were 0.824, 0.632, and 0.860, respectively. Moreover, PCNA-AS1 was up-regulated in CRC cell lines.

Conclusions: PCNA-AS1 may function as a potential tumor biomarker for diagnosing CRC.