Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most common kidney cancer diagnosed across the globe and has steadily increased in incidence in recent decades. Techniques for diagnosing or treating RCC are limited, and confined mostly to later stages of the disease. Almost all RCC pathological types are resistant to chemotherapeutics and radiation therapy. To this effect, new markers for diagnosis and target therapy are urgently needed. Advanced genome sequencing technologies have revealed long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) as a novel marker, transcribed throughout the human genome. The emergence of lncRNAs is an aberrant expression and is involved in the tumorigenesis of RCC. LncRNAs drive cancer phenotypes through their interaction with other cellular macromolecules including DNA, protein, and RNA. Recent research on lncRNA molecular mechanisms has revealed new markers to functionally annotate these cancers' associated transcripts, making them targets for effective diagnosis and therapeutic intervention in the fight against cancer. In this review, we first highlight the common mechanisms that underlie aberrant lncRNA expression in RCC. We go on to discuss the potential translational application of lncRNA research in the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of RCC.
Keywords: Kidney cancer; LncRNAs; Long non-coding RNAs; Renal cell carcinoma; Tumorigenesis.
© 2018 The Author(s). Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.