Plasma lncRNA‑GACAT2 is a valuable marker for the screening of gastric cancer

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are crucial in contributing to gastric tumorigenesis and development. However, the diagnostic value of the majority of lncRNAs in gastric cancer (GC) are not clear. The present study investigated the diagnostic value of gastric cancer associated transcript 2 (GACAT2), a lncRNA that is aberrantly expressed in GC tissues. A total of 343 plasma samples from 80 healthy individuals, 29 patients with gastric dysplasia (GD) and 117 paired preoperative and postoperative patients with GC were collected. Plasma GACAT2 levels were subsequently measured by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Finally, the associations between plasma GACAT2 levels and various clinicopathological features of patients with GC were assessed. The results demonstrated that plasma GACAT2 levels in preoperative patients with GC were significantly higher than those in the postoperative group (P=0.031). Compared with healthy individuals, plasma GACAT2 levels were significantly increased in patients with GD (P<0.001) and preoperative patients with GC (P=0.040). Moreover, the individual relative changes of plasma GACAT2 expression following surgery were significantly associated with lymphatic metastasis (P=0.034), distal metastasis (P=0.035) and perineural invasion (P=0.039). Therefore, the results of the current study suggest that plasma-based GACAT2 may be developed as a tumor marker to screen and predict the prognosis of GC patients.