Six lncRNAs show prognostic associations in a gastric cancer study with small tissue validation

A 2026 Molecular Biology Reports study found that six long non-coding RNAs were expressed at higher levels in gastric cancer tumour tissue and were associated with unfavourable overall survival. The research combined analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas stomach adenocarcinoma dataset with expression measurements in 25 paired clinical specimens, according to the article abstract.

The investigators analysed TCGA-STAD data comprising 412 tumour and 36 normal samples. All six selected lncRNAs—SLC12A5-AS1, MAP3K2-DT, LINC02544, MIR181A2HG, LINC01914 and LNCOG—were significantly upregulated in tumour tissue, with reported fold changes ranging from 1.6 to 6.6 and false discovery rates from 2.0 × 10⁻² to 4.2 × 10⁻¹¹. Expression was also assessed by RT-qPCR in 25 paired clinical specimens as an experimental validation step.

Receiver operating characteristic analyses produced areas under the curve of 0.650 to 0.910. LINC01914 had the highest reported AUC at 0.910, followed by LNCOG at 0.893 and LINC02544 at 0.835. Survival analyses used univariable and multivariable Cox regression and Kaplan–Meier methods. Higher expression of each of the six lncRNAs was associated with unfavourable overall survival. After adjustment for pathological stage, age and sex, the association remained significant for LNCOG (HR 1.23, P = 0.013), LINC02544 (HR 1.17, P = 0.021) and SLC12A5-AS1 (HR 1.17, P = 0.039).

Co-expression and pathway-enrichment analyses identified several cancer-associated processes, with epithelial–mesenchymal transition the most prominent. These results support associations between the six lncRNAs, tumour expression and patient outcomes, but the abstract does not establish that the molecules cause these changes or pathways. The tissue-expression validation involved only 25 paired specimens, and the reported discrimination and survival findings require independent assessment in larger cohorts before any clinical diagnostic or prognostic application can be inferred.

Subject of Research: Expression, survival associations and pathway enrichment of six lncRNAs in human gastric cancer samples

Article Title: Prognostic lncRNAs and their functional pathways in gastric cancer revealed by bioinformatics and experimental validation

Article References: Vahidikia, F., Kasmaie, H. B., Shahbazzadegan, N., Koohpar, Z. K., Mokhtari, K., Entezari, M., & Hashemi, M. (2026). Prognostic lncRNAs and their functional pathways in gastric cancer revealed by bioinformatics and experimental validation. Molecular Biology Reports, 53(1), Article 1587. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-026-12761-3

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s11033-026-12761-3

Keywords: gastric cancer, long non-coding RNAs, TCGA-STAD, overall survival, Cox regression, Kaplan–Meier analysis, RNA expression, pathway enrichment, Prognostic, lncRNAs, functional, pathways