Identification of cancer-related potential biomarkers based on lncRNA-pseudogene-mRNA competitive networks.

Accumulating evidence indicates that mRNAs and noncoding RNAs act as competitive endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) and play a key role in tumorigenesis. However, the complex competitive relationship among genes remains unknown. In the present study, the long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), pseudogenes and mRNAs that compete with common microRNAs are defined as lncRNA-pseudogene-mRNA competitive triples. We find that some candidate ceRNAs, modules and triples are associated with cancers and can significantly divide patients into high-risk and low-risk groups; thus, they may serve as potential cancer biomarkers. In sum, the present study systematically analyzes the association between competitive triples and cancer, which provides a reference for a deeper understanding of cancer progression.