Involvement of long non-coding RNA HULC (highly up-regulated in liver cancer) in pathogenesis and implications for therapeutic intervention

ABSTRACT

Introduction: HULC (highly upregulated in liver cancer) is a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) which is, as its name suggests, highly upregulated in hepatocellular carcinoma and in several other cancers. Increased HULC expression levels are strongly associated with clinicopathologic features such as tumor stages and overall survival and is a driver of tumor proliferation, migration, and invasion.

Areas covered: This review addresses the discovery of HULC and discusses the consequences of HULC deregulation in cancer, the underlying molecular mechanisms and the potential of HULC as a biomarker and therapeutic target.

Expert opinion: HULC is a promising candidate as a therapeutic target in cancer; however, more studies are necessary to further elucidate the underlying molecular mechanism(s), especially in cancer types other than hepatocellular carcinomas. Future studies that focus on an optimized HULC-targeting approach are necessary to clarify the best strategy to target this lncRNA in vivo and in patients.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02641847.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03469544.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03057171.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02948855.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03000764.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02221999.

KEYWORDS:

• Cancer
• highly upregulated in liver cancer
• HULC
• lncRNA
• liver cancer

Article Highlights

• HULC is upregulated in many cancer entities

• upregulation of HULC is associated with clinicopathological features in patients

• upregulation of HULC drives cancer cell properties

• HULC often functions as ceRNA for diverse microRNAs

• HULC has high potential as biomarker especially in HCC

• HULC could be a promising therapeutic target in the future

This box summarizes key points contained in the article.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was not funded.