Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41160238›Full record

ArticleMolecular biology reports2025

Extracellular vesicles-derived LncRNA MAFG-AS1 predicts clinical response to pembrolizumab in patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma.

Nakanori Fujii, Hiroshi Hirata, Yoshimasa Ban, Shintaro Oka, Takanori Tokunaga, Yukihiro Hitaka, Kosuke Shimizu, Keita Kobayashi, Naohito Isoyama, Koji Shiraishi

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Article in Molecular biology reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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5 · Who and what money

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10 authors.

Nakanori FujiiDepartment of Urology, Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi University, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan. nakanori@yamaguchi-u.ac.jp.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0003-5718-9043
Hiroshi HirataDepartment of Urology, Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi University, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan.
Yoshimasa BanDepartment of Urology, Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi University, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan.
Shintaro OkaDepartment of Urology, Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi University, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan.
Takanori TokunagaDepartment of Urology, Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi University, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan.
Yukihiro HitakaDepartment of Urology, Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi University, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan.
Kosuke ShimizuDepartment of Urology, Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi University, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan.
Keita KobayashiDepartment of Urology, Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi University, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan.
Naohito IsoyamaDepartment of Urology, Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi University, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan.
Koji ShiraishiDepartment of Urology, Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi University, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPembrolizumab is an important immune checkpoint inhibitor for advanced urothelial carcinoma (aUC). However, there are no established biomarkers to predict its efficacy. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are liquid bilayer structures released from various cells that contain genetic information such as DNAs, RNAs, and proteins. EVs-derived long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been reported to be involved play in tumor progression and drug resistance. We investigated whether EVs-derived lncRNA MAFG-AS1 is effective in predicting pembrolizumab efficacy.

methodsThe expression of lncRNA MAFG-AS1 was examined in UC tissues from 22 patients who underwent total cystectomy at our institution, and normal urothelial tissues. Functional analysis of lncRNA MAFG-AS1 were performed using bladder cancer cell lines. The relationship between EVs-derived lncRNA MAFG-AS1 expression and clinical response and prognosis was examined in 52 patients treated with pembrolizumab.

resultsThe expression of lncRNA MAFG-AS1 was notably higher in UC tissues than in normal urothelial tissues. LncRNA MAFG-AS1 knockdown in bladder cancer cells by siRNA, significantly decreased cell viability, invasion, and migration. Patients with a clinical response showed significantly a lower EVs-derived lncRNA MAFG-AS1 expression than those with no clinical response. The high EVs-derived lncRNA MAFG-AS1 expression group had significantly worse progression-free and overall survival than the low expression group (Log-rank P = 0.0096 and log-rank P = 0.0349, respectively). In multivariate analysis, high EVs-derived lncRNA MAFG-AS1 expression was a significant risk factor for poor clinical response to pembrolizumab (HR = 3.2, P = 0.0010).

conclusionsThe EVs-derived lncRNA MAFG-AS1 may be an effective less-invasive biomarker for predicting the efficacy of pembrolizumab in aUC.

Indexed as

Antibodies, Monoclonal, HumanizedCarcinoma, Transitional CellExtracellular VesiclesRNA, Long NoncodingUrinary Bladder NeoplasmsAgedBiomarkers, TumorCell Line, TumorFemaleGene Expression Regulation, NeoplasticHumansMaleMiddle AgedPrognosisAntibodies, Monoclonal, HumanizedBiomarkers, TumorpembrolizumabRNA, Long NoncodingAdvanced urothelial carcinomaExtracellular vesiclesLess-invasive biomarkerLiquid biopsyLong non-coding RNAPembrolizumab

Identifiers

PMID41160238

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