The miR-17-92 cluster as a potential biomarker for the early diagnosis of gastric cancer: evidence and literature review

PURPOSE Intestinal metaplasia is considered to be a pre-cancerous lesion of gastric cancer. The miR-17-92 cluster was previously reported to have clinical value in the prediction of cancer development. This study aimed to test the diagnostic value of miR-17-92 in gastric cancer and the intestinal metaplasia patients compared with the normal ones. RESULTS The results showed that miR-17-92 members were over-expressed in the serum of both gastric cancer and intestinal metaplasia patients, compared with healthy controls. Serum miR-17-92 members could also distinguish patients with gastric cancer and intestinal metaplasia from healthy controls. MATERIALS AND METHODS Serum miR-17-92 expression levels were detected using quantitative real-time PCR in 75 patients with gastric cancer, 104 patients with intestinal metaplasia and 38 healthy controls. The Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) were then analyzed to test the efficacy of the miR-17-92 members in distinguishing gastric cancer, intestinal metaplasia and healthy controls. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, the miR-17-92 cluster might be useful as a potential serum biomarker for the early detection of gastric cancer.