Emerging paradigms of long non-coding RNAs in gastrointestinal cancer.

A large number of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been discovered by genome-wide transcriptional analyses. Emerging evidence has indicated that lncRNAs regulate gene expression at epigenetic, transcription, and post-transcription levels, are widely involved in various pathobiology of human diseases, and may play an important role in the biology of cancer stem cells. Alterations of specific lncRNAs have been revealed to interact with the major pathways of cell proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation, invasion and metastasis in many human malignancies, such as gastrointestinal cancer. This review summarizes the current understandings in biological functions and implications of lncRNAs in gastrointestinal cancer.