Serum miR-133a is down-regulated and associated with the diagnosis of patients with gastric cancer

Aim: The present study was designed to detect the expression of miR-133a and assess the diagnostic value of it in gastric cancer (GC). Methods: The expression of serum miR-133a was examined by real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Chi-square test was used to delineate the association between miR-133a expression and clinical parameters of patients with GC. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve was plotted to describe the diagnostic value of miR-133a in GC. Results: miR-133a expression was decreased in serum of patients with GC compared with that in healthy controls (P<0.001). And low expression of miR-133a was significantly related to lymph node metastasis, venous invasion, tumor node metastasis and TNM stage, but shared no association with age, gender and tumor size. ROC curve showed miR-133a had a high diagnostic value with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.873 corresponding with a sensitivity of 72.3% and a specificity of 88.6%, respectively. Conclusion: In conclusion, miR-133a was down-regulated and could serve as a potential molecule marker for the diagnosis of GC patients.