Following assessment of the diagnostic value of the 7 differentially expressed lncRNAs, we confirmed the optimal combination of H19, C3P1, AC005550.3, PVT1, and LPAL2 with area under the curve of 0.8828 [95% CI: 0.7441–1.021, P < 0.001], with 93.75% sensitivity and 81.25% specificity, at the cutoff point of − 0.2884 to distinguish the CCA tissue from the normal ones, suggesting that specific lncRNAs may have potential for detecting CCA. This evidence concerns the gene LPAL2 and cholangiocarcinoma.