Long non-coding RNAs in HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma (Review)

Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a global health problem that accounts for more than half of total liver cancer cases in developing countries. Despite the growing number of researches conducted, the molecular mechanism underlying the development of HCC remains elusive. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), which are non-coding RNAs >200 nt in length that were previously considered to be transcriptional noise, have been found to be dysregulated in HBV-related HCC with the help of high-throughput omics techniques. Subsequent investigations revealed that aberrant expression of lncRNAs may affect the risk of HBV-related HCC through diverse mechanisms, including epigenetic silencing of transcriptional activation, alternative splicing, molecular sponging, modulating protein stability, and by serving as precursors of miRNAs. Although the sensitivity and specificity of lncRNAs must be further validated, a number of circulating lncRNAs have been identified as useful biomarkers for HBV-related HCC. In addition to these findings, recent studies also unveiled that certain genetic polymorphisms in lncRNAs may affect the occurrence and prognosis of HBV-related HCC. The aim of the present review was to provide an overview of the mechanisms underlying the involvement of lncRNAs in HBV-related HCC. Subsequently, lncRNAs found to be dysregulated in HBV-related HCC were focused on and current findings on circulating lncRNAs and their genetic polymorphisms were discussed.