The expression level of miR-203 in patients with gastric cancer and its clinical significance

Background: The clinical significance of miR-203 and its prognostic value have not been investigated in gastric cancer. Methods: We assessed miR-203 expression in 141 gastric cancer samples and 141 paired non-cancerous samples by real-time PCR and calculated using the 2(-Delta Delta Ct) method. Differences between groups were examined for statistical significance by Student's t-test. Survival curves were computed by the Kaplan-Meier method, and differences between survival curves were compared by the log rank test. Results: The expression of miR-203 was significantly lower in gastric cancer samples compared to non-cancerous samples (P < 0.0001). Low miR-203 expression was found to be closely correlated with advanced stage (p = 0.005), and lymph node involvement (p = 0.009). Kaplan-Meier analysis with the log-rank test indicated that low miR-203 expression had a significant impact on overall survival (39.4% vs. 62.5%; P = 0.043) and progression-free survival (32.5% vs. 58.6%; P = 0.023). Furthermore, multivariate analysis revealed that miR-203 expression level was independent prognostic factors for overall survival (HR = 2.73, 95% CI: 1.69-8.91; P = 0.01), as well as progression-free survival (HR = 4.19, 95% CI: 2.91-10.12; P = 0.005). Conclusion: Our data validate an important clinical significance of miR-203 in gastric cancer, and reveal that it might be a potential prognostic factor for gastric cancer. Large-scale and long-term follow-up studies are needed to confirm the significance of miR-203 in gastric cancer.