To investigate the expression of long non-coding (Lnc) RNA taurine upregulated gene (TUG) 1 and microRNA (miR)-132 in breast cancer and their relationship with prognosis.

Ninety cases of surgically resected breast cancer tissues and the corresponding paracancerous tissue were collected in Rugao People’s Hospital from January 2014 to November 2017. The expression levels of TUG1 and miR-132 were detected by qRT-PCR, effect of TUG1 and miR-132 expression on survival rate of breast cancer patients using Kaplan-Meier method, and analysis of prognostic factors of breast cancer by Cox regression model.

Compared with the adjacent tissues, the expression of TUG1 increased significantly (t=65.781, P<0.001), while the expression of miR-132 decreased significantly (t=33.089, P<0.001). The up-regulation of TUG1 and the down-regulation of miR-132 expression was correlated with ER, HER-2, FIGO stage, differentiation degree and lymph node metastasis (all P<0.05). There was a significantly negative correlation between the expression of TUG1 and miR-132 in breast cancer tissues (r=-0.767, P=0.025). The 3-year survival rate of patients with high expression of TUG1 was 80.77% (42/52), significantly lower than 97.37% (37/38) of those with low expression of microRNAs (χ²=5.639, P=0.018), and 81.25% (39/48) of those with low expression of miR-132, significantly lower than 95.24% (40/42) of those with high expression of microRNAs (χ²=4.085, P=0.043). Cox regression analysis showed that ER, HER-2, FIGO staging, differentiation, lymph node metastasis, TUG1 and miR-132 were independent prognostic factors for breast cancer patients (all P<0.05).

TUG1 expression is significantly up-regulated and miR-132 expression is significantly down-regulated in breast cancer tissues, both of which are negatively correlated and independent prognostic factors. TUG1 may play an oncogene role by regulating the expression of miR-132, and may become an independent prognostic marker and a new therapeutic target for breast cancer.