Table 1. Dysregulation of lncRNAs in HNC.
| lncRNA | Expression | Tumor type | Function and potential mechanism | Application |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HOTAIR | up | LSCC, NPC, OSCC | Promotes invasion and inhibits apoptosis by inhibiting PTEN in LSCC [28]; promotes cell growth, migration and invasion in NPC by inducing VEGF-A and HSP70 expression [23, 32]; promotes proliferation, migration and invasion, and inhibits apoptosis by recruiting EZH2 to silence E-cadherin in OSCC [29, 30, 31]. | diagnostic and prognostic biomarker [23, 28, 29, 91] |
| H19 | up | NPC, HNSCC | Loss of imprinting in IGF2-H19 loci and abnormal H19 expression are associated with the oncogenesis and development of HNC [39–45]; H19 expression in HNC increases DNA methylation by repressing miR-148a-3p [46]. | / |
| MEG3 | down | TSCC | Inhibits cell proliferation and the cell cycle, promotes cell apoptosis; DNMT3B is the intermediary by which miR-26a regulates MEG3 expression in TSCC [51]. | prognostic biomarker [51] |
| MALAT1 | up | LSCC, NPC | Promotes cell proliferation and inhibits apoptosis in LSCC [63]; promotes cell proliferation, invasion, and metastasis in NPC; promotes cancer stem-cell by through acting as a ceRNA to regulate slug by reducing miR-1 activity in NPC [62]. | / |
| UCA1 | up | TSCC | Promotes migration in TSCC [65]. | / |
| FOXCUT | up | OSCC | Promotes cell proliferation and migration in OSCC by regulating FOXC1 [67]. | / |
| AFAP1-AS1 | up | NPC | Promotes metastasis by increasing the levels of AFAP1 and some cytoskeleton-regulated proteins in NPC [73]. | prognostic biomarker [73] |
| LET | down | NPC | Inhibits cell proliferation and promotes apoptosis; EZH2-mediated H3K27 methylation inhibits LET [77]. | prognostic biomarker [77] |
| LOC401317 | unknown | NPC | Inhibits tumor cell cycle progression by inducing P21 expression and repressing cyclin D1 and E1 expression; promotes cell apoptosis by inducing PARP and caspase 3 expression. lncRNA LOC401317 expression is induced by p53 [79]. | / |
| PVT1 | up | TC | Promotes cell proliferation and cell cycle progression in TC by recruiting EZH2 and regulating TSHR [80]. | / |
| NAMA | down | PTC | Promotes cell apoptosis and arrests cell growth [82]. | / |
| PTCSC2 | down | PTC | Influences the expression of some genes involved in cancer and the cell cycle [83]. | / |
| PTCSC3 | down | PTC | Inhibits cell growth, influences the expression of genes involved in DNA replication, recombination and repair; cellular movement; tumor morphology and cell death [84]. | / |
| NEAT1 | up | LSCC | Promotes tumor growth and cell cycle progression in LSCC by regulating the miR-107/CDK6 pathway [71]. | / |
| HNF1A-AS | up | NPC | Promotes cell proliferation, cell-cycle progression and migration by accelerating the EMT in NPC [75]. | / |
| ROR | up | NPC | Promotes cell proliferation, migration and chemoresistance, and inhibits apoptosis by inhibiting the p53 signaling pathway [76]. | / |
| GAS8-AS1 | down | PTC | Suppresses tumor growth [78]. | / |
| FAL1 | up | PTC | Increases the risk of multifocality [87]. | / |
| AB209630 | down | HSCC | Promotes tumor growth and cell metastasis and invasion [88]. | prognostic biomarker [88] |
| HOTTIP | up | TSCC | Unknown mechanism [85]. | prognostic biomarker [85] |
| ENST00000438550 | up | NPC | Unknown mechanism [86]. | prognostic biomarker [86] |
| RP11-169D4.1-001 | down | LSCC | Unknown mechanism [93]. | prognostic biomarker [93] |
| AC026166.2-001 | down | LSCC | Unknown mechanism [93]. | prognostic biomarker [93] |
| LINC00312 | down | NPC | Unknown mechanism [92]. | diagnostic and prognostic biomarker [92] |
Abbreviations: LSCC, laryngeal squamous-cell carcinoma; NPC, nasopharyngeal carcinoma; OSCC, oral squamous cell carcinoma; HNSCC, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma; TSCC, tongue squamous cell carcinoma; TC, thyroid cancer; PTC, papillary thyroid carcinoma; HSCC, hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.