Serum WAVE3 is a diagnostic marker for patients with gastric cancer

Objectives: The present study was conducted to investigate the diagnostic significance of Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome verprolin-homologous 3 (WAVE3) in patients with gastric cancer (GC). Methods: The serum level of WAVE3 mRNA was examined by real-time quantity PCR (qRT-PCR). Chi-square test was applied to evaluate the relationship between WAVE3 expression and clinical characteristics. The diagnostic value of WAVE3 in GC was assessed via conducting the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results: Serum level of WAVE3 mRNA was significantly higher in GC patients than that in healthy controls (P<0.001). Furthermore, high WAVE3 expression was associated with positive lymph node metastasis (P=0.036), deep tumor invasion (P=0.016) and high TNM stage (P=0.041). The ROC curve revealed that WAVE3 was a candidate biomarker for the diagnosis of GC, with the sensitivity of 81.5% and the specificity of 92.4%. The optimal cutoff point was 2.34, and the AUC was 0.861. Conclusion: WAVE3 is upregulated in GC serum, which is significantly associated with aggressive clinical characteristics. WAVE3 may be a potential biomarker for GC diagnosis.