ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the expression level and clinical significance of long non-coding RNA(LncRNA) growth arrest specific gene-antisense 1(GAS8-AS1) in papillary thyroid microcarcinoma(PTMC) patients. Methods We investigated the expression profile of GAS8-AS1 in tissue samples of patients with PTMC as well as nodular goiter(NG) by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction(RT-qPCR). Results GAS8-AS1 in cancer tissue was down-regulated in PTMC patients compared with adjacent thyroid tissue and NG samples(P<0.05). Lower level of GAS8-AS1 was also correlated with central cervical lymph node metastasis(CLNM, P<0.05). The area under the ROC curve for GAS8-AS1 was up to 0.717 3 in CLNM prediction(P<0.05). Conclusion GAS8-AS1 may act as a potential biomarker for PTC diagnosis and CLNM prediction.