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Long noncoding RNA in gastric juice, plasma may be marker for gastric cancer
Changes in long noncoding RNA-AA174084 levels in the tissues, gastric juice and plasma of patients with gastric cancer were associated with clinicopathological factors, suggesting utility as a biomarker for early screening and predicting prognoses, according to research data.
To determine the diagnostic and prognostic utility of plasma and gastric juice levels of AA174084 (AA) — a long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) found with abnormal expression in gastric cancer (GC) tissues in a previous study — researchers analyzed samples from three gastroenterology centers in China from February 2011 to November 2013. Total RNA was extracted from 860 patients and controls and measured using real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis.
AA levels were down-regulated in 71% of 134 GC tissue samples compared with paired adjacent normal tissues (P<.001), with mean expression level 3.18 times greater in the normal samples. AA levels also were decreased in the GC samples and in 28 gastric dysplasia (GD) samples compared with 37 healthy gastric mucosa samples (P<.01 and P<.001, respectively). AA tissue levels negatively correlated with age (P=.031), Bormann type (P=.016) and perineural invasion (P=.032).
Plasma levels of AA decreased in 76% of 83 GC patients 15 days after surgery compared with 120 controls, 29 GD and 84 preoperative GC patients (P<.001), and correlated with lymphatic metastasis (P=.042) and invasion (P=.049). Gastric juice levels of AA were increased in patients with GC compared with levels in normal mucosa (NM) or patients with minimal gastritis, gastric ulcers and atrophic gastritis (AG; P<.001). Compared with patients with NM, benign lesions or AG, AA levels in the gastric juice of early GC patients also spiked (P<.001). Gastric juice levels also were associated with tumor size (P=.026), tumor stage (P=.034), Lauren type (P=.021) and gastric juice carcinoembryonic antigen levels (P=.039).
“LncRNA-AA potentially may play a role during GC development,” the researchers concluded. “The plasma AA level also has potential as a biomarker for prognosis evaluation, and the level of AA in gastric juice has potential use in the early diagnosis and differential diagnosis of GC.”
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.