Background: Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) SNHG12 and HAGLR have different molecular functions in breast cancer (BC). We investigated their expression profiles in different subtypes of BC, breast tissues, and plasma in association with clinicopathological and reproductive conditions.
Methods: The expression levels of SNHG12 and HAGLR were detected by qRT-PCR in 150 BC tumors including 35 triple-negative BC (TNBC), 30 HER2-enriched, 30 luminal B, and 55 luminal A and their corresponding tumor-adjacent apparently normal (TAN), as well as in truly normal (TN) tissues and plasma samples of 150 cancer-free women.
Results: The SNHG12 and HAGLR upregulated in tumor tissues compared to TAN and TN, as well as in TAN relative to TN in all subtypes. The increased level of SNHG12 was observed only in TNBC patients with larger tumor sizes and positive status of lymph node metastasis (LNM+), while elevated expression of HAGLR was associated with LNM+, late grades, and advanced stages of luminal B and A tumors. Regarding the 3-year survival rates, negative associations were found for SNHG12 levels in TNBC and luminal A, as well as for HAGLR in HER2-enriched, luminal B and A patients. The expression of investigated lncRNAs was associated with reproductive factors in breast tissues. The plasma expression showed the importance of SNHG12 and HAGLR as specific diagnostic biomarkers of the TNBC subtype and luminal A or B subtypes, respectively.
Conclusions: Our results showed the BC subtype-specific expression profiles of SNHG12 and HAGLR and represent these lncRNAs as useful diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for BC.
Keywords: Breast cancer; Diagnostic biomarkers; Gene expression profiling; HAGLR; LncRNAs; SNHG12.
© 2025. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland.