In Situ Hybridization Analysis of Long Non-coding RNAs MALAT1 and HOTAIR in Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Neoplasms

In this study, we evaluated the expressions and prognostic significance of MALAT1 and HOTAIR in 83 cases of GEP-NENs (60 grade 1, 17 grade 2, and 6 grade 3 tumors) diagnosed during the years 2005 –2017. Expression levels of MALAT1 and HOTAIR were digitally quantitated in assembled tissue microarray slides labeled by chromogenic in situ hybridization (ISH) using InForm 1.4.0 software. We found diffuse nuclear expression of both HOTAIR and MALAT1 in all primary tumors of GEP-NENs with variab le intensities. By multivariate model which adjusted for age and histologic grade, high expression of HOTAIR was associated with lower presenting T and M stages and subsequent development of metastases (P <  0.05). MALAT1 expression was associated with presenting T stage and development of metastases (P <  0.05). In summary, MALAT1 and HOTAIR are commonly expressed in GEP-NENs. High expression of either lncRNA showed grade-independent associations with clinically less aggressive disease.
Source: Endocrine Pathology - Category: Pathology Source Type: research