Diagnostic and Prognostic Value of Serum MicroRNA-206 in Patients with Gastric Cancer.

AIMS Recent studies have demonstrated that microRNAs (miRNAs) can serve as useful biomarkers for human cancers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression level of serum miRNA-206 in patients with gastric cancer (GC) and investigate its diagnostic and prognostic value. METHODS Quantitative real-time PCR was performed to evaluate serum miRNA-206 levels in 150 GC patients and 150 healthy volunteers. The association between miRNA-206 expression and clinicopathological factors as well as patient's survival was analyzed. Receiver operator curve (ROC) analysis was carried out to assess the potential value of serum miRNA-206 for GC diagnosis. RESULTS Serum miRNA-206 was down-regulated in GC patients compared with healthy controls (P < 0.001). Decreased serum miRNA-206 expression was significantly associated with deep local invasion, positive lymph node metastasis, and advanced clinical stage. Serum miRNA-206 expression was found to be significantly up-regulated in paired post-operative samples and reduced in patients with GC recurrence. ROC curve analysis showed that serum miRNA-206 was a useful marker for GC diagnosis, and could discriminate between recurred and non-recurred patients. Multivariate Cox regression analysis confirmed low serum miRNA-206 expression as an independent unfavorable prognostic factor for both DFS and OS of GC patients. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that serum miRNA-206 might not only serve as a novel diagnostic biomarker for GC, but also predict cancer recurrence and patient's prognosis.