Abstract:

Esophageal cancer is one of the common and dangerous malignant tumors in the digestive system, particularly in Asia. Its onset is a complex pathological process through multiple stages influenced by multiple factors and genes. Environmental factors, living habits, chronic inflammation, genetic susceptibility, and molecular mechanisms are all involved. In recent years, the roles of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) as a key regulatory factor in esophageal cancer have attracted much attention. LncRNA is a type of non-coding RNA with a length exceeding 200 nucleotides. It regulates gene expression in various ways, including epigenetic modifications, competitive endogenous RNA networks, RNA protein interactions, and other mechanisms. Researches have found that in esophageal cancer, lncRNAs are involved in regulating many key biological processes of tumor cells, such as proliferation, invasion, metastasis, apoptosis, drug resistance, radiation resistance, stem cell characteristics, epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT), etc. This review comprehensively summarizes the extensive regulatory roles and potential clinical value of lncRNA in the pathophysiology of esophageal cancer, with a focus on the specific role of the regulatory axis which participates in esophageal cancer, so as to provide directions for the further exploration of the molecular mechanisms and clinical translational applications of lncRNA in the future, as well as new ideas for improving the prognosis of patients with esophageal cancer and exploring therapeutic targets.

Key words:

Esophageal cancer, Long non-coding RNA, Mechanism, Progress

摘要：

食管癌是消化系统里高发且危险的恶性肿瘤之一，在亚洲地区更为常见。它的发病是受多种因素影响、历经多个阶段、涉及多个基因参与的复杂病理过程，环境因素、生活习惯、慢性炎症、遗传易感性以及分子机制等共同参与其中。近年，长链非编码RNA（long non-coding RNA，lncRNA）作为关键调控因子在食管癌中发挥的作用备受瞩目。lncRNA是一类长度超过200个核苷酸的非编码RNA，其调控基因表达的方式多样，涵盖表观遗传修饰、竞争性内源RNA网络、RNA-蛋白相互作用等机制。研究发现，在食管癌中，lncRNA参与调控肿瘤细胞诸多关键生物学过程，如增殖、侵袭、转移、凋亡、耐药性、放射抗性、干细胞特性以及上皮-间质转化（epithelial-mesenchymal transition，EMT）等。本综述全面梳理了lncRNA在食管癌病理生理学中的广泛调控作用及潜在的临床价值，着重阐述了其参与的调控轴在食管癌中的具体作用，为未来深入探究lncRNA的分子机制和临床转化应用提供方向，也为改善食管癌患者预后、探寻治疗靶点提供新的思路。

关键词:

食管癌, 长链非编码RNA, 机制, 进展