Abstract: Background and purpose: Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) is associated with carcinogenesis and cancer development. LncRNA promoter of CDKN1A antisense DNA damage activated RNA (PANDAR) was correlated with the progression and prognosis of various cancers. This study aimed to investigate the expression and clinical significance of PANDAR in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RTFQ-PCR) was used to detect PANDAR expression in 94 cases of NSCLC tissues and adjacent tissues. The association with patient clinic-pathological characteristics, diagnostic value and prognosis of PANDAR were further analyzed. Results: PANDAR expression was significantly downregulated in the NSCLC compared with adjacent tissues (P<0.001). There was significant differences between tumor size, lymphatic metastasis, TNM stage and histologic differentiation in terms of PANDAR expression (χ²=9.197, P=0.002 4; χ²=7.126, P=0.008; χ²=6.271, P=0.012; χ²=8.147, P=0.004). The area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.797 (95%CI: 0.614-0.849; P<0.001). The sensitivity and specificity were 49.8% and 84.3%, respectively. The index of Youden was 0.402. The differences between PANDAR low expression and high expression groups were statistically significant in overall survival time and progression free survival (χ²=7.282, P=0.007; χ²=6.777, P=0.009). Conclusion: The expression of PANDAR is down-regulated in patients with NSCLC and might prove useful as a biomarker for diagnosis and prognostic significance.

Key words: Promoter of CDKN1A antisense DNA damage activated RNA, Non-small cell lung cancer, Receiver operating characteristic curve, Clinical pathological, Biomarker