Evaluation of Circulating Long Non-Coding RNA HOTAIR as a Diagnostic and Prognostic Marker of Breast Cancer

Background: Among female cancers, breast cancer accounts for the majority of cases and deaths. Trustworthy biomarkers to early detect and follow prognosis are of the utmost importance. New research suggests that HOX transcript antisense intergenic RNA (HOTAIR) and other long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play a particular role in the initiation and progression of cancer.
Objective: This research aimed to evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic implication of plasma lncRNA HOTAIR in breast cancer patients.
Patients and methods: A controlled case-cohort study was conducted on 60 adult females, categorized into three groups: 30 newly diagnosed breast cancer patients, 15 with benign breast lesions, and 15 healthy controls. Plasma HOTAIR levels were measured by real-time PCR, and CA15-3 was assessed as a conventional marker. Statistical analyses included associations with clinicopathological data and ROC curve analysis for diagnostic performance.
Results: Plasma HOTAIR was found to be significantly higher among breast cancer patients than in both benign and healthy groups (p < 0.001). HOTAIR showed high diagnostic accuracy (sensitivity 93.3%, specificity 96.4%, AUC 0.957 at >1.085). Combining HOTAIR with CA15-3 further improved sensitivity. Elevated HOTAIR correlated with lymph node involvement, larger tumor size, metastasis, and poorer prognosis (p < 0.001).
Conclusion: Circulating lncRNA HOTAIR might be a promising, sensitive, and specific biomarker for breast cancer diagnosis and prognosis. Incorporating HOTAIR with traditional markers may enhance early detection and risk stratification.