肝细胞癌(hepatocellular carcinoma,HCC)是一种侵袭性很强的恶性肿瘤,具有较高的致死率。对肝癌进行早期诊断,有助于改善患者的预后。然而,目前的影像学技术和肿瘤标志物检测对肝癌早期诊断的效果还不理想。越来越多的证据显示,肿瘤细胞能够向血中释放大量不被核糖核酸酶降解的RNAs,并且这些RNAs的含量足以用于定量分析。长链非编码RNA(long non-coding RNAs,lncRNAs)在肝癌发生发展过程中具有重要作用。研究显示,循环血中某些lncRNAs表达水平的异常变化与肝癌的病程进展密切相关,提示循环血中的lncRNAs具有作为肝癌诊断标志物的潜在价值。本文就循环血中lncRNAs作为肝癌诊断标志物的研究进展作一综述。
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)is an aggressive malignancy with a high mortality rate. Prognosis can be improved significantly with early diagnosis. However, current imaging technologies and tumor biomarkers for early diagnosis of HCC are unsatisfied. Emerging evidence shows that tumor cells release substantial amounts of RNAs into the circulation that can not be degraded by ribonucleases and are present at sufficient levels for quantitative analyses. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play critical roles in the development of HCC. Some lncRNAs have been reported significantly altered in expression with HCC progression, and they may thus serve as potential diagnostic biomarkers for HCC. This review summarized the recent advance in circulating lncRNAs as diagnosis biomarkers for HCC.