Circulating exosomal long non-coding RNA H19 as a potential novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for gastric cancer

Objective Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in carcinogenesis and could be used as diagnostic biomarkers. Our study aimed to elucidate the clinical role of serum exosomal lncRNA H19 in gastric cancer (GC). Methods In this prospective clinical study, we determined serum exosomal lncRNA H19 levels in 81 patients with GC and analysed the correlations between serum lncRNA H19 levels and clinical characteristics. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves were constructed to determine the diagnostic performance of exosomal lncRNA H19 in GC. Results Serum exosomal lncRNA H19 levels were significantly upregulated in patients with GC both before and after surgery compared with healthy controls. Furthermore, serum exosomal lncRNA H19 levels were significantly decreased after compared with before surgery in patients with GC. Preoperative lncRNA H19 levels were significantly correlated with TNM stage. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) value for exosomal lncRNA H19 was 0.849, which was significantly higher than the AUC values for cancer antigens 19-9 and 72-4 and carcinoembryonic antigen, either alone or combined. Conclusions These results suggest that circulating exosomal lncRNA H19 may be a potential biomarker with diagnostic and prognostic value in GC.