High expression of long non-coding RNA ATB is associated with poor prognosis in patients with renal cell carcinoma

OBJECTIVE: To compare the expression of lncRNA-ATB in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) tissues and adjacent non-tumor tissues to determine whether lncRNA-ATB could be used as a potential prognostic biomarker for RCC. PATIENTS AND METHODS: qRT-PCR was performed to determine the expression level of lncRNA-ATB in RCC tissues and corresponding non-tumor tissues. The relationship between lncRNA-ATB expression and clinicopathologic features was analyzed. Patient survival analysis was determined according to the Kaplan-Meier method using the log-rank test. A Cox's regression model was used for univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: The expression level of lncRNA-ATB was significantly upregulated in RCC tissues vs. corresponding non-tumor tissues (p<0.01) and the high expression of lncRNA-ATB was significantly associated with histological grade (p=0.008), lymph nodes metastasis (p=0.015), and distant metastasis (p=0.008). Also, Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated patients with high lncRNA-ATB expression that had a significantly shorter overall survival than those with low lncRNA-ATB expression (p<0.001). Univariate and multivariate analysis showed that lncRNA-ATB expression was an independent risk factor for overall survival in RCC patients. CONCLUSIONS: lncRNA-ATB was a potential prognostic marker and a therapeutic target for patients with RCC.