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Parsons et al. J Cancer Metastasis Treat 2018;4:19 Journal of Cancer
DOI: 10.20517/2394-4722.2018.11 Metastasis and Treatment

Review Open Access

The role of long noncoding RNAs in cancer
metastasis

Christine Parsons , Alexis M. Tayoun , Benjamin D. Benado , Gabriel Ragusa , Rose F. Dorvil , Elizabeth
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A. Rourke , Kaitlyn O’ Connor , Irene G. Reed , Angela Alexander , Lian Willetts , Maryam Habibian ,
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Brian D. Adams 2,8
1 School of Medicine, UConn Health, Farmington, CT 06030, USA.
2 Department of RNA Sciences, The Brain Institute of America, Groton, CT 06340, USA.
3 Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University of New Haven, West Haven, CT 06516, USA.
4 Department of Biology, University of Saint Joseph, West Hartford, CT 06117, USA.
5 Department of Breast Medical Oncology, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
6 Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada.
7 Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
8 Investigative Medicine Program, Yale University Medical School, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
Correspondence to: Prof. Brian D. Adams, Department of RNA Sciences, The Brain Institute of America, 93 Shennecossett Road,
Groton, CT 06340, USA. E-mail: brian.adams@braininstituteamerica.com
How to cite this article: Parsons C, Tayoun AM, Benado BD, Ragusa G, Dorvil RF, Rourke EA, O’ Connor K, Reed IG, Alexander A,
Willetts L, Habibian M, Adams BD. The role of long noncoding RNAs in cancer metastasis. J Cancer Metastasis Treat 2018;4:19.
http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2394-4722.2018.11
Received: 24 Feb 2018 First Decision: 13 Mar 2018 Revised: 5 Apr 2018 Accepted: 11 Apr 2018 Published: 28 Apr 2018
Science Editors: Ezharul Hoque Chowdhury, Yin-Yuan Mo Copy Editor: Jun-Yao Li Production Editor: Cai-Hong Wang

Abstract
Signaling pathways are tightly controlled systems that regulate the appropriate timing of gene expression required for
the differentiation of cells down a particular lineage essential for proper tissue development. Proliferation, apoptosis
and metabolic pathways are just a few examples of the signaling pathways that require fine-tuning, so as to control
the proper development of a particular tissue type or organ system. An estimated 70% of the genome is actively
transcribed, only 2% of which codes for known protein-coding genes. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in particular,
are a large and diverse class of RNAs > 200 nucleotides in length, and not translated into protein. lncRNAs are essential
transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulators that control the expression of genes in a spatial, temporal, and cell
context-dependent manner. The aberrant expression of lncRNAs is therefore linked with a number of chronic diseases
including cardiac dysfunction, diabetes, and cancer. In this review, we highlight the specific role lncRNAs have in
promoting the metastatic cascade across a number of epithelial cancer models.

Keywords: Long noncoding RNA, long intergenic noncoding RNA, microRNA, competitive endogenous RNA, breast
cancer, brain cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, metastasis, therapeutics

© The Author(s) 2018. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use,
sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as long
as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license,
and indicate if changes were made.

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