The association of TINCR downregulation with tumor size of breast cancer patients and its lymph node metastasis

This study aimed to evaluate the expression levels of TINCR in tumor and adjacent non-tumor tissues of 50 women diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma. The association of TINCR expression and the clinical characteristics of patients have also been studied.

Total RNA was isolated from tumor and adjacent non- tumor tissues of breast cancer patients using RNX-Plus. Then, PrimeScriptTM RT reagent was used for converting total RNA to cDNA. TINCR lncRNA levels were quantified by qRT-PCR and results was analyzed with paired sample t test. Moreover, for evaluation the TINCR biomarker potential, ROC curve analysis was used in breast cancer tumor tissues.

Reduced levels of TINCR were obtained in tumor tissues of breast cancer patients compared with adjacent non-tumor tissues (P<0.0001). TINCR expression had negative association with tumor size and lymph node metastasis in breast cancer tumor tissues.

TINCR lncRNA downregulation in tumor tissues of breast cancer patients indicates that its expression level could discriminate the tumor from non-tumor tissues in breast cancer patients. Furthermore, TINCR lncRNA have low levels in breast cancer patients with large tumor size, positive lymph node metastasis and luminal A and B subtypes.