LncRNAs Regulate Vasculogenic Mimicry in Human Cancers

: Vasculogenic mimicry (VM) has been recently discovered as an alternative mechanism to nourish cancer cells in vivo. During VM, tumor cells align and organize in three-dimensional (3D) channel-like structures to transport nutrients and oxygen to the internal layers of tumors. This mechanism occurs mainly in aggressive solid tumors and has been associated with poor prognosis in oncologic patients. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are essential regulators of protein-encoding genes involved in cancer development and progression. These single-stranded RNA molecules regulate critical cellular functions in cancer cells, including cell proliferation, apoptosis, angiogenesis, VM, therapy response, migration, invasion, and metastasis. Recently, high-throughput RNA sequencing technologies have identified thousands of lncRNAs, but only a tiny percentage have been functionally characterized in human cancers. The vast amount of data about its genomic expression in tumors can allow us to dissect their functions in cancer biology and make them suitable biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and prognosis. Here, we have reviewed the current knowledge about the role of lncRNAs in VM in human cancers, with a special emphasis on their potential to be used as novel therapeutic targets in RNA-based molecular interventions.