TUG1 and squamous cell lung carcinoma: To detect the level of TUG1 expression, we analyzed TUG1 expression using qRT-PCR in 192 pairs of NSCLC tissues compared with the corresponding non-tumor tissues and found that TUG1 was significantly downregulated in 86% (166 of 192) of the cancerous tissues (downregulated by >50%, P<0.001) compared with normal counterparts, both in lung squamous cell carcinoma and lung adenocarcinoma tissues (Figure 1a).