Abstract
AIMS AND BACKGROUND: Gastric cancer is a significant health challenge globally, necessitating the identification of novel biomarkers for improved diagnosis. Our study aimed to address this gap by investigating the diagnostic potential a set of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in gastric cancer patients compared to healthy controls. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective case-control analysis involving 256 participants, including 128 gastric cancer patients and 128 healthy individuals. Alongside the measurement of serum levels of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19.9), the plasma expression profiling of eight lnc-RNAs was performed in the selected samples. RESULTS: Our findings revealed significant alterations in CEA and CA19.9 levels in gastric cancer patients compared to controls (p < 0.05). Moreover, upregulated expression of lncRNAs, including HOTIP, BANCR, ZFAS1, TINCR, GC1, and AFAP1-AS1, were all observed in gastric cancer patients (p < 0.05). Excluding lncUGC1 and FAM49B-AS, ROC curve analysis demonstrated the diagnostic potential of lncRNAs in gastric cancer detection, with notable specificity and sensitivity. CONCLUSION: Our study disclosed the diagnostic utility of plasma HOTIP, BANCR, ZFAS1, TINCR, GC1, and AFAP1-AS1 lncRNAs as appropriate diagnostic biomarkers for gastric cancer. The identification of dysregulated lncRNAs offers promising avenues for noninvasive diagnostic assessment in gastric cancer.