Serum NDRG2 acts as a novel biomarker for the diagnosis of patients with gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND: Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common digestive malignancies worldwide. N-myc downstream-regulated gene 2 (NDRG2) is a differentiation-related gene which is considered to be a metastasis suppressor gene. The purpose of this study was to detect the serum expression of NDRG2 and its clinical significance in the early detection of patients with GC. METHODS: Serum NDRG2 expression were examined in 107 patients with GC, 52 with benign gastric disease patients, and 64 healthy volunteers using reverse transcription quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and western blot analysis at mRNA and protein level, respectively. The relationship between NDRG2 expression and clinicopathologic characteristics was analyzed by chi-square test. The diagnostic value of NDRG2 was estimated via establishing the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. RESULTS: the serum NDRG2 expression was lower in GC patients than that in patients with benign disease and healthy volunteers both at mRNA and protein level (P<0.05). And the low NDRG2 expression was significantly associated with tumor size, lymph node metastasis and TNM stage. ROC curve manifested that NDRG2 had a high diagnostic value with an AUC of 0.896 corresponding with a sensitivity of 85.9% and a specificity of 62.6%. CONCLUSION: The expression of NDRG2 was reduced in GC patients. Moreover, serum NDRG2 could be a potential diagnostic marker for GC.