Prognostic potential of miR-21-3p in gastric cancer

This study aimed to clarify the role of microRNA (miR)-21-3p in regulating progression and prognosis in gastric cancer (GC).

One hundred patients with primary GC were included in this study. Their primary GC tissues and paracancer normal mucosa were collected for detecting miR-21-3p levels. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were depicted for analyzing the predictive ability of miR-21-3p in GC. Subgroup analyses were conducted based on tumor size, lymph node metastasis status and TNM staging in GC patients. All GC patients were followed up for 5 years, and survival analysis was conducted using Kaplan-Meier method with log-rank test. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed for exploring potential prognostic factors for GC.

MiR-21-3p was highly expressed in GC tissues. Subgroup analyses were conducted based on tumor size, lymph node metastasis status and tumor staging. Subgroup analyses showed higher level of miR-21-3p in GC tissues collected from patients with large tumor size, lymph node metastasis or advanced TNM staging. ROC curves confirmed the diagnostic potential of miR-21-3p in GC. In addition, Kaplan-Meier and log-rank test revealed lower progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in GC patients overexpressing miR-21-3p. Tumor size, lymph node metastasis, TNM staging and miR-21-3p level were independent risk factors for the prognosis of GC.

MiR-21-3p is upregulated in GC samples, which is closely related to GC progression. MiR-21-3p can be used to predict the prognosis of GC.