Expression of long non-coding RNA HOXA11-AS is correlated with progression of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

Long noncoding RNA HOXA11 antisense RNA (HOXA11-AS) is involved in tumorigenesis and development of some human cancers. However, the role of HOXA11-AS in human laryngeal squamous cell cancer (LSCC) is yet unclear. In this study, we firstly investigated the expression of HOXA11-AS in LSCC. Microarray and qRT-PCR showed that the level of HOXA11-AS was significantly higher in LSCC than that in the corresponding adjacent non-neoplastic tissues. ISH revealed that HOXA11-AS was strongly expressed in the nucleus and closely related to the T grade, neck nodal metastasis, and clinical stage. Patients with T3-4 grade, neck nodal metastasis, or advanced clinical stage presented a high HOXA11-AS expression. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that high HOXA11-AS expression could predict a poor prognosis in LSCC patients. Furthermore, HOXA11-AS knockdown significantly inhibited the growth, migration, and invasion of LSCC cells. Taken together, the current data indicated that HOXA11-AS plays an oncogenic role in the cellular processes of LSCC and serve as a novel marker and a potential therapeutic target in LSCC patients.