Upregulation of long noncoding RNA Lnc‐IRF2‐3 and Lnc‐ZNF667‐AS1 is associated with poor survival in B‐chronic lymphocytic leukemia

AbstractBackgroundLnc‐IRF2‐3 and Lnc‐ZNF667‐AS1 were recently studied as a positive biomarker for many tumor cells. However, experimental studies found that they are associated with worse outcomes in B‐CLL.MethodsA prospective case study was conducted on 135 B‐CLL patients that were compared to thirty healthy controls. The patients were followed up for 40 months and quantitative measurements of Lnc‐IRF2‐3 and Lnc‐ZNF667‐AS1 were measured and compared between the two groups as well as high‐risk and low low‐risk B‐CLL.ResultsLnc‐IRF2‐3 and Lnc‐ZNF667‐AS1 had a high specificity (94% and 85%) and sensitivity (85%, 87%), respectively, to differentiate B‐CLL from healthy controls. Furthermore, they showed high expression levels in high‐risk CLL groups. For survival analysis, there was a negative correlation between overall survival (OS) and progression‐free survival (PFS) and both biomarkers. However, it was not evident in multivariate Cox regression analysis; in patients with Lnc‐IRF2‐3 expression level, >67 had a significant decrease in OS and PFS. However, there is no significant effect for high expression levels of Lnc‐ZNF667‐AS1 on OS (P = .16) or PFS (P = .48).ConclusionThe Lnc‐IRF2‐3 and Lnc‐ZNF667‐AS1 are promising prognostic biomarkers in B‐CLL.