Gastric juice long noncoding RNA used as a tumor marker for screening gastric cancer

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play a crucial role in tumorigenesis. However, the value of lncRNAs in the diagnosis of gastric cancer remains unknown. To identify whether lncRNA-AA174084 is a potential marker for the early diagnosis of gastric cancer (GC), the authors investigated its levels in tissues, blood, and gastric juices from patients with various stage of gastric tumorigenesis.

Total RNA in 860 specimens from patients and healthy controls was extracted. Levels of AA174084 in 134 paired GC tissues, 127 gastric mucosal tissues, 335 plasma samples, and 130 gastric juice samples at each stage of gastric tumorigenesis were measured using real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis. The potential association between AA174084 levels and patients' clinicopathologic features were analyzed. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed for differentiating GC patients from controls.

Expression levels of AA174084 were down-regulated significantly in 95 of 134 GC tissues (71%) compared with the levels in paired, adjacent, normal tissues (P < .001). AA174084 levels had significant, negative correlations with age (P = .031), Borrmann type (P = .016), and perineural invasion (P = .032). Plasma AA174084 levels in patients with GC dropped markedly on day 15 after surgery compared with preoperative levels (P < .001) and were associated with invasion (P = .049) and lymphatic metastasis (P = .042). AA174084 levels in gastric juice from patients with GC were significantly higher than the levels in normal mucosa or in patients with minimal gastritis, gastric ulcers, and atrophic gastritis (P < .001). The area under ROC was up to 0.848 (P < .001).

AA174084 may have potential as marker for the early diagnosis of GC.