Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42678131›Full record

ArticleAnalytical cellular pathology (Amsterdam)2026

Integrative Pan-Cancer Characterization of lncRNA UPK1A-AS1 and Its Role in Hypoxia-Associated Sorafenib Resistance in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Ze-Kai Li, Min-Rui Luo, Shu-Jie Fang, Yi-Da Wu, Quan-Hui Hu, Dong-Yan Zhang

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Analytical cellular pathology (Amsterdam), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Ze-Kai LiDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong Province, China, fimmu.com.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0002-0143-4057
Min-Rui LuoDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong Province, China, fimmu.com.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0005-2447-0327
Shu-Jie FangDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong Province, China, fimmu.com.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0005-9971-3063
Yi-Da WuDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong Province, China, fimmu.com.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0004-7767-8247
Quan-Hui HuDepartment of Health Management, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong Province, China, fimmu.com.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0002-9141-2117
Dong-Yan ZhangDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong Province, China, fimmu.com.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1791-1313

Funding

Guangzhou Science and Technology Program key projects 2024A04J5205National Natural Science Foundation of China 82272719Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province 2023A1515012724Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province 2024A1515013249
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as critical regulators of tumor initiation and progression through transcriptional and posttranscriptional mechanisms. UPK1A antisense RNA 1 (UPK1A-AS1), a cancer-associated lncRNA, has been reported to participate in oncogenic processes; however, its overall landscape across human malignancies and its biological role in therapy resistance remain poorly understood. Given the increasing importance of identifying functional lncRNAs with prognostic and therapeutic potential, this study presents a comprehensive multiomics characterization of UPK1A-AS1 and its experimental validation in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We integrated datasets from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), the Genotype-Tissue Expression Project (GTEx), the cancer immunology data engine (CIDE), and the cBioPortal for cancer genomics (cBioPortal) to systematically assess its expression pattern, genomic alterations, clinical significance, and immunological associations. Our analyses revealed that UPK1A-AS1 is significantly upregulated in multiple tumor types, with copy-number amplification as the predominant genomic alteration driving its overexpression. Elevated UPK1A-AS1 expression was correlated with advanced disease stage, poor differentiation, immune exclusion, and unfavorable prognosis, supporting its potential as a cancer type-dependent biomarker. In parallel, functional studies demonstrated that hypoxia transcriptionally induces UPK1A-AS1 in HCC, where it promotes sorafenib resistance by suppressing apoptosis. Silencing UPK1A-AS1 restored apoptotic and enhanced sorafenib efficacy both in vitro and in vivo. Collectively, our findings suggest that UPK1A-AS1 is a hypoxia-inducible oncogenic lncRNA that plays dual roles in cancer, with cancer type-dependent associations with progression and immune modulation across malignancies and mechanistically mediating hypoxia-associated drug resistance in HCC.

Indexed as

Carcinoma, HepatocellularDrug Resistance, NeoplasmLiver NeoplasmsRNA, Long NoncodingSorafenibAnimalsCell Line, TumorGene Expression Regulation, NeoplasticHumansUp-RegulationRNA, Long NoncodingSorafenibhepatocellular carcinomahypoxialong noncoding RNApan-cancer analysissorafenib resistanceUPK1A-AS1

Identifiers

PMID42678131
PMCPMC13532061

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.