Correlation between miR-138-5p expression and efficacy of platinum-based chemotherapy in advanced gastric cancer patients

Background We investigated the relationship between levels of microRNA (miR)-138-5p in plasma and tumor tissues from advanced gastric cancer patients, and the efficacy of first-line platinum-based chemotherapy. Methods MiR-138-5p expression was measured by qRT-PCR in cancerous tissues and plasma from 51 advanced gastric cancer patients, in paracancerous tissues and in plasma from healthy volunteers as control. All patients received first-line platinum-based chemotherapy. Correlations between miR-138-5p expression and the treatment efficacy, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) of first-line chemotherapy were evaluated. Results Significantly lower levels of miR-138-5p were detected in gastric cancer tissues compared with paracancerous tissues and in the plasma of patients compared with control subjects (both P