Classifying gastric cancer using FLORA reveals clinically relevant molecular subtypes and highlights LINC01614 as a biomarker for patient prognosis

Oncogene. 2021 Apr;40(16):2898-2909. doi: 10.1038/s41388-021-01743-3. Epub 2021 Mar 19.

Abstract

Molecular-based classifications of gastric cancer (GC) were recently proposed, but few of them robustly predict clinical outcomes. While mutation and expression signature of protein-coding genes were used in previous molecular subtyping methods, the noncoding genome in GC remains largely unexplored. Here, we developed the fast long-noncoding RNA analysis (FLORA) method to study RNA sequencing data of GC cases, and prioritized tumor-specific long-noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) by integrating clinical and multi-omic data. We uncovered 1235 tumor-specific lncRNAs, based on which three subtypes were identified. The lncRNA-based subtype 3 (L3) represented a subgroup of intestinal GC with worse survival, characterized by prevalent TP53 mutations, chromatin instability, hypomethylation, and over-expression of oncogenic lncRNAs. In contrast, the lncRNA-based subtype 1 (L1) has the best survival outcome, while LINC01614 expression further segregated a subgroup of L1 cases with worse survival and increased chance of developing distal metastasis. We demonstrated that LINC01614 over-expression is an independent prognostic factor in L1 and network-based functional prediction implicated its relevance to cell migration. Over-expression and CRISPR-Cas9-guided knockout experiments further validated the functions of LINC01614 in promoting GC cell growth and migration. Altogether, we proposed a lncRNA-based molecular subtype of GC that robustly predicts patient survival and validated LINC01614 as an oncogenic lncRNA that promotes GC proliferation and migration.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biomarkers, Tumor / metabolism*
  • Gene Expression Profiling / methods*
  • Humans
  • Oncogenes
  • Prognosis
  • RNA, Long Noncoding / metabolism*
  • Stomach Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Stomach Neoplasms / mortality
  • Stomach Neoplasms / pathology

Substances

  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • RNA, Long Noncoding