Moreover, multivariate Cox analysis revealed MEG3 expression was an independent poor prognostic factor for both 5-year OS (p = 0.003) and 5-year PFS (p = 0.002) in BC patients.
Taken together, our findings indicate that MEG3 is downregulated in breast cancer tissues and affects breast cancer cells' malignant behaviors, which indicate MEG3 a potential therapeutic target for breast cancer.
Collectively, these results suggest that MEG3 might suppress the tumor growth and angiogenesis via AKT signaling pathway and MEG3 may serve as a potential novel diagnostic and therapeutic target of breast cancer.
However, subgroup analysis according to cancer type revealed that MEG3 expression was not associated with better OS in gastrointestinal cancer (HR = 0.58, 95% CI = 0.33-1.03; p = 0.06), and patients with breast cancer (HR = 0.85, 95% CI: 0.12-5.88; p = 0.87).
Following data mining in multiple big data databases, we confirmed a positive correlation between MEG3 and heparan sulfate proteoglycan 2 (HSPG2) expression in breast cancer tissues.
Through survival analysis, 5 lncRNAs (AL117190.1, COL4A2-AS1, LINC00184, MEG3 and MIR22HG) were identified as crucial prognostic factors for patients with breast cancer.