LncRNA STARD13-AS Expression in Gastric Cancer and its Significance

The aim of the study is to investigate lncRNA STARD13-AS's expression and clinical characteristics in the cancer tissues of gastric cancer (GC) patients.

Microarray assessment will be used to analyze GC and non-tumor tissues. The lncRNA STARD13-AS expression in 82 GC and non-tumor tissues were measured by RT-qPCR and ISH assay. The differential expression of lncRNA STARD13-AS between the two groups and the relationship with clinical characteristics and prognosis were analyzed statistically.

By microarray assessment, lncRNA STARD13-AS was significantly down-regulated in tumor tissues. Compared with non-tumor tissues, using both RT-qPCR and ISH assay, STARD13-AS expression was significantly depressed in GC tissues (p < 0.01, respectively) and was closely correlated with tumor stage and histological grade (p < 0.05, respectively), but was not correlated with gender, age, tumor size, tumor location or lymph node metastasis. The 5-year overall survival and progression free survival rates of the low lncRNA STARD13-AS expression group were significantly down-regulated compared with those of the high lncRNA STARD13-AS expression group (p < 0.001, respectively).

The expression of lncRNA STARD-AS is depressed in gastric cancer tissues; the expression of lnc-RNA STARD-AS is correlated to tumor stage and degree of tumor differentiation, and may be a new molecular marker for the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis in GC.