The BRAF activated non‐coding RNA: A pivotal long non‐coding RNA in human malignancies

Long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs) participate in the complex network of cancer and play an important role in tumourigenesis and progression. BRAF activated non‐coding RNA (BANCR), a 4‐exon transcript of 693‐bp, was first discovered as an oncogenic long non‐coding RNA in BRAFV600E melanomas cells in 2012 and was related to melanoma cell migration. Besides melanoma, increasing evidence has explored the potential role of BANCR in the development and progression of multiple other human malignancies, such as retinoblastoma, lung cancer, gastric cancer etc. since its discovery. The expression pattern of BANCR varies in different types of cancers, either as a tumour suppressor or as an accelerator. Functional BANCR may serve as a promising biomarker for cancer diagnosis as well as prognosis evaluation. BANCR‐targeted intervention may also become a valuable novel therapeutic tool against human malignancies. This review summarized the advanced research progresses concerning the expression and role of BANCR in different human malignancies.