MicroRNAs as a potential prognostic factor in gastric cancer.

10635 Background: Preliminary data suggest that microRNAs may have a prognostic role in gastric cancer and may thereby improve our ability to individualize its treatment. We therefore compared the microRNA profiles in the primary tumor of 45 patients with recurrent (14) and non-recurrent gastric cancer (31) and evaluated their prognostic impact. Methods: Eligible patients underwent curative gastrectomies, without adjuvant therapy. Total RNA was extracted from formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tumor samples preserving the small RNA fraction. Initial profiling using microRNA microarrays identified potential microRNA biomarkers for recurrence, verified by qRT-PCR. Results: Signal levels of three microRNAs, miR-451, miR-199a-3p, and miR-195 were found to be differentially expressed in tumors from patients with good prognosis vs. patients with bad prognosis (p-value<0.0002, 0.0027 and 0 …