The roles of long non-coding RNAs in lung cancer

Lung cancer is the most common malignancy, being a serious threat of human lives. The incidence and mortality of lung cancer has been increasing rapidly in the past decades. Although the development of new therapeutic modes, such as target therapy, the overall survival rate of lung cancer remains low. It is urgent to advance the understanding of molecular oncology and find novel biomarkers and targets for the early diagnosis, treatment, and prognostic prediction of lung cancer. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are non-protein coding RNA transcripts that are more than 200 nucleotides in length. LncRNAs exert diverse biological functions by regulating gene expressions at transcriptional, translational, and post-translational levels. In the past decade, it has been shown that lncRNAs are extensively involved in the pathogenesis of various diseases, including lung cancer. In this review, we highlighted the lncRNAs characterized in lung cancer and discussed their translational potential in lung cancer clinics.