Analysis of the expression of ARNTL2 and miR-204-5p and their correlation with clinical pathological features in NSCLC patients.

[OBJECTIVE] To analyze the expression of Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Nuclear Translocator-Like 2 (ARNTL2) and miR-204-5p in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients and their correlation with clinicopathological characteristics.

[METHODS] Respiratory department cases from April 2020 to April 2022 were selected, and patients were divided into an NSCLC group (80 cases) and a non-NSCLC group (60 cases). The expression levels of ARNTL2 and miR-204-5p and the survival status were compared between the two groups. The predictive value of ARNTL2 and miR-204-5p for mortality in NSCLC patients was analyzed.

[RESULTS] TCGA data showed ARNTL2 expression was significantly higher and hsa-miR-204-5p significantly lower in cancer versus normal tissues (P<0.05). Patients with high ARNTL2 or miR-204-5p expression had shorter survival than those with low expression (P<0.05). In NSCLC patients, ARNTL2 was elevated and miR-204-5p reduced compared to non-NSCLC (P<0.05). High ARNTL2 or low miR-204-5p expression correlated with older age, larger tumor size, higher malignancy, lymph node metastasis, advanced stage, and smoking history (P<0.05). Over 36 months, survival was lower with high ARNTL2 but higher with high miR-204-5p (P<0.05). Pearson analysis showed ARNTL2 positively and miR-204-5p negatively correlated with mortality (P<0.05). ROC analysis yielded AUCs, sensitivities, and specificities of 0.914/86.7%/86.2% for ARNTL2, 0.934/81.7%/96.2% for miR-204-5p, and 0.920/89.8%/97.7% for combined detection.

[CONCLUSION] The expression levels of ARNTL2 and miR-204-5p in NSCLC are closely associated with patient age, tumor differentiation, and lymph node metastasis, and they have high predictive value for NSCLC-related mortality.