Over the years, thousands of long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been identified to be exclusively expressed in specific cancer types and for their unique functions in tumorigenesis. This has led to an increasing interest in elucidating the vital roles [1] and underlying mechanism [2, 3] of such non‐coding genome in driving cancerous phenotypes. A number of studies have pinpointed the key functions of lncRNAs in diverse biological events including chromatin interactions, transcriptional regulation, RNA processing, mRNA stabilization, signal transduction, and metabolic regulation; highlighting their essential roles in both physiology and diseases such as cancer [4].

A classic hallmark of cancer is the reprogramming of glucose metabolism that occurs to redirect glycolytic intermediates toward the biosynthetic production of macromolecules needed for cancer progression [5-7]. The metabolic role of lncRNAs has been also discovered [8, 9], while the mechanistic details on how lncRNAs regulate metabolic processes remain to be investigated. Notably, a recent study conducted by Liu and colleagues [10] revealed a novel lncRNA, named as actin gamma 1 pseudogene (AGPG ), as a key regulator of 6‐Phosphofructo‐2‐Kinase/Fructose‐2,6‐Biphosphatase 3 (PFKFB3), in driving glycolysis and cell cycle progression, and a biomarker in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC; Figure 1).

多年来，数千种长的非编码RNA（lncRNA）被确定专门在特定的癌症类型中表达，并且在肿瘤发生中具有独特的功能。这导致人们越来越有兴趣阐明这种非编码基因组在驱动癌表型中的重要作用[ 1 ]和潜在机制[ 2、3 ]。大量研究明确了lncRNA在多种生物事件中的关键功能，包括染色质相互作用，转录调控，RNA加工，mRNA稳定，信号转导和代谢调控；强调了它们在诸如癌症等生理和疾病中的重要作用[ 4 ]。

癌症的一个经典标志是对葡萄糖代谢的重新编程，该过程发生的目的是使糖酵解中间体重新导向癌症进展所需的大分子的生物合成生产[ 5-7 ]。还已经发现了lncRNA的代谢作用[ 8、9 ]，而有关lncRNA如何调节代谢过程的机制细节尚待研究。值得注意的是，Liu及其同事最近进行的一项研究[ 10 ]揭示了一种名为lactin gamma 1假基因（AGPG）的新型lncRNA，它是6-磷酸果糖-2-激酶/果糖-2,6-二磷酸酶3的关键调控因子（ PFKFB3），在驱动糖酵解和细胞周期进程中发挥作用，并在食管鳞状细胞癌中具有生物标志物（ESCC；图1）。