Abstract
PURPOSE: Gastric cancer (GC) is the fifth most common type of cancer worldwide. Despite the growing interest in Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, targeted diagnostic and prognostic markers are yet to be fully developed. The purpose of this study is to explore potential biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of GC associated with H. pylori infection. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The differentially expressed long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in H. pylori-related GC were acquired from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and a literature review. Clinicopathological features, tumors, and adjacent non-tumor tissues were collected from 80 patients with GC. Expression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1alpha antisense RNA 2 (HIF1A-AS2) and long intergenic non-protein coding RNA 511 (LINC00511) was determined by quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The relationship between HIF1A-AS2 or LINC00511 expression and the clinicopathological features of GC patients was evaluated. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were created to assess the diagnostic values of HIF1A-AS2 or LINC00511. The Kaplan-Meier method was employed to evaluate the prognostic value of HIF1A-AS2 or LINC00511. RESULTS: HIF1A-AS2 and LINC00511 were identified as key lncRNAs in H. pylori-related GC. High expression of HIF1A-AS2 and LINC00511 was associated with large tumor size, advanced tumor node metastasis (TNM) stage, high levels of serum tumor biomarkers, and the incidence of H. pylori infection and lymph node metastasis. HIF1A-AS2 or LINC00511 indicated high diagnostic values for GC, and their combination showed higher sensitivity and specificity. Increased expression of HIF1A-AS2 and LINC00511 is related to poor 5-year overall survival rates, indicating that HIF1A-AS2 and LINC00511 are prognostic factors for GC. CONCLUSION: HIF1A-AS2 and LINC00511 are related to H. pylori-related GC and serve as potential biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of GC.