Clinical values of circular RNA 0000181 in the screening of gastric cancer

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are recently found involved in cancer occurrence and development. However, their values in the diagnosis of gastric cancers are largely unknown. In this study, we analyzed the values of hsa_circ_0000181 in the diagnosis of gastric cancer.

Using divergent primers, hsa_circ_0000181 expression levels in fresh gastric cancer tissues and paired adjacent non‐tumorous tissues, and plasmas from patient with gastric cancer and health people were detected by real‐time quantitative reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR). The association between hsa_circ_0000181 levels and the clinicopathologic features of patients with gastric cancer was further analyzed. Finally, to evaluate the diagnostic value, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was established.

Hsa_circ_0000181 levels in gastric cancer tissues and plasma from gastric cancer patients were significantly decreased than those in paired adjacent non‐tumorous tissues (P < .001) and healthy people (P < .001), respectively. Furthermore, hsa_circ_0000181 expression in gastric cancer tissues was significantly correlated with tumor diameter (P = .027), lymphatic metastasis (P = .044), distal metastasis (P = .023), and carbohydrate antigen 19‐9 (P = .031). Its decreased levels in patients' plasma were significantly associated with differentiation (P = .038) and carcinoembryonic antigen (P = .037). The areas under ROC curve were 0.756. The specificity of tissue hsa_circ_0000181 and sensitivity of plasma hsa_circ_0000181 were 85.2% and 99.0%, respectively.

Thanks to the high stability, tissue and plasma hsa_circ_0000181 may be a novel biomarker for the diagnosis of gastric cancer.