en Biomarkers (diagnosis & treatment) Biomarkers (diagnosis & treatment) Original Article Original Article <div style="text-align: justify;">Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) associated with various cancers, including colorectal cancer (CRC), could be collected from body fluids easily. Our aims were to determine the expression level of <em>HOTTIP</em> lncRNA in plasma samples of healthy individuals and CRC patients as well as their relationship with clinico-pathological characteristics of patients. First, total RNA was extracted from the plasma samples of 100 subjects including 50 patients and 50 age and sex matched healthy persons. Then, gene expression was measured using real-time PCR technique. The sensitivity and specificity of <em>HOTTIP</em> dysregulation in CRC and healthy individual&rsquo;s plasma was measured by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. As compared with healthy controls, <em>HOTTIP</em> lncRNA was over expressed in a statistically significant manner in plasma samples of patients (P = 0.001). Significant relationship between <em>HOTTIP</em> expression and positive family history of CRC was observed, too (P = 0.04). The ROC curve analysis showed an AUC value of 0.775, a specificity of 82%, a sensitivity of 76%, with a cut off value equal to 2.40 (P = 0.001). <em>HOTTIP</em> transcript can be proposed as a new biomarker for early diagnosis due to the increased expression in plasma samples of patients with CRC and the relatively high sensitivity and specificity.</div> Biomarker, colorectal neoplasms, long non-coding RNAs, lncRNA HOTTIP 240 246 http://ijmcmed.org/browse.php?a_code=A-10-314-5&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Soheila Ali akbar- Esfahani soheilaaa.esfahany@gmail.com 100319475328460016627 100319475328460016627 No Department of Molecular Medicine & Genetics, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran. Morteza Karimipoor mortezakarimi@yahoo.com 100319475328460016628 100319475328460016628 No Molecular Medicine Department, Biotechnology Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran. Fatemeh Bahreini f.bahreini@yahoo.com 100319475328460016629 100319475328460016629 No Department of Molecular Medicine & Genetics, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran. Ali Reza Soltanian arsoltanian@yahoo.com 100319475328460016630 100319475328460016630 No Modelling of Non communicable Diseases Research Center, School of Public Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran. Najme Aletaha dr.aletaha@gmail.com 100319475328460016631 100319475328460016631 No Department of Gastroenterology, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran. Ali Mahdavinezhad alimahdavin@gmail.com 100319475328460016632 100319475328460016632 Yes Research center for Molecular Medicine, Department of Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.