Question: Do lincRNAs play a role in human cancer?

Context:
Long non-coding RNA H19 increases bladder cancer metastasis
These data suggest that upregulated H19 enhances bladder cancer metastasis by associating with EZH2 and inhibiting E-cad expression
lncRNA H19 is essential for human tumor growth
Previous reports have demonstrated that HOTAIR associates with chromatin modifications in cooperation with the Polycomb complex PRC2, and promotes breast and colorectal cancer metastasis
although the clinical significance of HOTAIR expression in HCC may not be as pronounced as that in breast and colorectal cancers, the current study demonstrates that HOTAIR expression is associated with HCC progression, warranting further studies.
Long non-coding RNA HOTAIR is an independent prognostic marker for nasopharyngeal carcinoma progression and survival
Long non-coding RNA influences radiosensitivity of colorectal carcinoma cell lines by regulating cyclin D1 expression
Long non-coding RNA urothelial carcinoma associated 1 (UCA1) promotes human bladder cancer cell proliferation, but the underlying mechanism remains unknown
UCA1 regulated cell cycle through CREB via PI3K-AKT dependent pathway in bladder cancer.
Long non-coding RNA UCA1 regulated cell cycle distribution via CREB through PI3-K dependent pathway in bladder carcinoma cells
overexpression of Yiya promotes cell cycle progression at the G1/S transition, therefore identifying Yiya as a cell-cycle-associated long non-coding RNA
The long noncoding RNA HOTAIR has been reported as a poor prognostic biomarker in patients with breast cancer. The aim of the present study is to examine the expression pattern of HOTAIR in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its clinical significance as well as its biological role in tumor progression
The high expression level of HOTAIR in HCC could be a candidate biomarker for predicting tumor recurrence in HCC patients who have undergone liver transplant therapy and might be a potential therapeutic target
Long non-coding RNA ANRIL is required for the PRC2 recruitment to and silencing of p15(INK4B) tumor suppressor gene
A 42 kb region on human chromosome 9p21 encodes for three distinct tumor suppressors, p16(INK4A), p14(ARF) and p15(INK4B), and is altered in an estimated 30-40% of human tumors
These results advance our understanding of the role of lncRNA-LET as a regulator of hypoxia signaling and offer new avenues for therapeutic intervention against cancer progression.
Silencing MALAT1 is a potential novel therapeutic approach for this cancer.

Answer: Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are pervasively transcribed in the genome and are emerging as new players in tumorigenesis due to their various functions in transcriptional, posttranscriptional and epigenetic mechanisms of gene regulation. The best-studied examples include HOTAIR, a negative prognostic factor that exhibits pro-oncogenic activity in a variety of human cancers, CRNDE the gene symbol for Colorectal Neoplasia Differentially Expressed (non-protein-coding), a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) gene that expresses multiple splice variants and displays a very tissue-specific pattern of expression and ANRIL, a lincRNA that is required for the PRC2 recruitment to and silencing of p15(INK4B) tumor suppressor gene.
Exact answer: yes