Long non-coding RNA HULC as a diagnostic and prognostic marker of pancreatic cancer

Table 1 Distinguishing between patients with pancreatic cancer, patients with benign diseases and healthy subjects using HULC

Parameter	AUC	95%CI	SE	Cut-off	Sensitivity (%)	Specificity (%)
Pancreatic cancer group-benign disease group	0.856	0.788-0.923	0.034	> 3.690	80.00	80.00
Pancreatic cancer group-normal group	0.975	0.950-1.000	0.012	> 2.915	93.33	96.67
Benign disease group-normal group	0.850	0.781-0.919	0.035	> 2.659	63.33	95.00

AUC: Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve; CI: Confidence interval; SE: Standard error.

Table 2 Relationship between serum HULC and pathological parameters of pancreatic cancer (mean ± SD)

Clinicopathological parameters	n	HULC	t	P value
Gender			0.016	0.987
Male	43	4.994 ± 1.520
Female	17	4.987 ± 1.451
Age (yr)			0.969	0.336
< 60	35	4.834 ± 1.498
≥ 60	25	5.212 ± 1.477
Tumor size (cm)			3.923	< 0.001b
< 2	29	4.293 ± 1.368
≥ 2	31	5.900 ± 0.988
T staging			5.248	< 0.001b
T1/T2	38	4.354 ± 1.196
T3	22	6.093 ± 1.304
N staging			1.126	0.265
N0	39	4.743 ± 1.497
N1	21	5.286 ± 1.281
M staging			5.120	< 0.001b
M0	32	4.221 ± 1.202
M1	28	5.872 ± 1.295
Differentiation			0.829	0.411
High/medium	49	4.916 ± 1.420
Low	11	5.329 ± 1.802
Nerve involvement			0.401	0.690
No	55	4.971 ± 1.386
Yes	5	5.283 ± 2.876
Vascular invasion			3.660	< 0.001b
No	40	4.540 ± 1.324
Yes	20	5.896 ± 1.412
Smoking history			0.101	0.920
No	36	4.976 ± 1.405
Yes	24	5.016 ± 1.637
History of alcoholism			0.494	0.623
No	42	4.929 ± 1.64
Yes	18	5.138 ± 1.084

^bP < 0.01 for between-group comparisons.

Table 3 Diagnostic value of serum HULC in clinicopathological parameter

Pathological parameters	AUC	95%CI	SE	Cut-off	Sensitivity (%)	Specificity (%)
Tumor size (cm)	0.844	0.746-0.941	0.050	> 5.408	93.10	64.52
T staging	0.834	0.732-0.935	0.052	> 4.819	90.91	68.42
M staging	0.928	0.865-0.990	0.032	> 5.094	89.29	87.50
Vascular invasion	0.818	0.687-0.949	0.067	> 5.408	80.00	85.00

AUC: Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve; CI: Confidence interval; SE: Standard error.

Table 4 Assignment in Cox regression analysis

Factors	Variables	Assignment
Gender	X1	Male = 1, female = 2
Age (yr)	X2	< 60 = 1, ≥ 60 = 2
Tumor size (cm)	X3	< 2 = 1, ≥ 2 = 2
T staging	X4	T1/T2 = 1, T3 = 2
N staging	X5	N0 = 1, N1 = 2
M staging	X6	M0 = 1, M1 = 2
Differentiation	X7	High/medium = 1, low = 2
Nerve involvement	X8	No = 1, yes = 2
Vascular invasion	X9	No = 1, yes = 2
Smoking history	X10	No = 1, yes = 2
History of alcoholism	X11	No = 1, yes = 2
HULC	X12	< 4.661 = 1, ≥ 4.661 = 2

Table 5 Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis of factors affecting the 3-year overall survival of patients with pancreatic cancer

Factors	Single factor		Multiple factors
	HR (95CI%)	P value	HR (95CI%)	P value
Gender	1.195 (0.348-4.176)	0.773
Age (yr)	1.549 (0.519-4.628)	0.438
Tumor size (cm)	1.406 (1.092-1.812)	0.043a	1.138 (0.857-1.514)	0.372
T staging	6.459 (1.408-29.575)	0.017a	12.852 (2.297-71.238)	0.005b
N staging	0.564 (0.201-1.580)	0.276
M staging	0.292 (0.124-0.689)	0.005b	0.357 (0.158-0.735)	0.013a
Differentiation	0.553 (0.157-2.042)	0.372
Nerve involvement	1.008 (0.991-1.022)	0.368
Vascular invasion	6.108 (1.385-24.954)	0.018a	2.601 (1.032-6.538)	0.041a
Smoking history	2.270 (0.901-1.792)	0.175
History of alcoholism	2.748 (0.705-10.701)	0.143
HULC	8.356 (2.128-3.846)	0.002b	5.817 (2.157-15.756)	0.003b

^aP < 0.05,

^bP < 0.01 for between-group comparisons. HR: Hazard ratio; CI: Confidence interval.