HOTAIR lncRNA SNPs rs920778 and rs1899663 are associated with smoking, male gender, and squamous cell carcinoma in a Chinese lung cancer population

The abnormal expression of the long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) HOX transcript intergenic antisense RNA (HOTAIR) plays an important role in the development of various cancers; however, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in HOTAIR and their association with primary lung cancer susceptibility have not yet been reported. Here, we performed a case-control study including 262 primary lung cancer patients and 451 cancer-free control individuals to investigate the association between four haplotype-tagging SNPs (rs920778, rs12826786, rs4759314, and rs1899663) in the HOTAIR lncRNA and the risk of developing primary lung cancer. We found a significant association between the SNPs rs920778 and rs1899663 in the HOTAIR and primary lung cancer susceptibility (P < 0.05). Moreover, homozygous C/T (C/T + TT) for rs920778 (C > T) sites was significantly associated with gender, smoking history, and pathological type. In addition, linkage disequilibrium and haplotype analysis of HOTAIR gene polymorphisms for susceptibility to lung cancer revealed a high degree of linkage disequilibrium between the rs920778 and rs1899663 loci (D’ = 0.86, r2 = 0.52). The population of rs920778, rs1899663, and rs4759314 had a significantly increased risk of lung cancer (P < 0.001). In summary, the present study provides persuasive evidence that SNP rs920778 is closely correlated with susceptibility to primary lung cancer. Future studies are warranted to validate and expand these findings, and to further dissect the importance of these SNPs in the development of primary lung cancer.