ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Gastric cancer (GC) has been identified worldwide as one of the most common cancer types with a high mortality rate. LncRNA SDMGC has been recognized as an oncogene with regulatory effects on its target gene, TRIM16, which is believed to play a tumor-suppressing role in various cancers. Both these genes are involved in GC development, tumorigenesis, invasion, and metastasis. The current study is aimed to investigate the association of SDMGC and TRIM16 with GC susceptibility and GC patients' clinicopathological characteristics. METHODS: A total of 100 GC tissues and their corresponding adjacent non-tumor tissues were sampled. Total RNA was then isolated to measure SDMGC and TRIM16 expression levels using quantitative reverse transcriptase (qRT)-PCR. Statistical analyses including the Mann-Whitney U test and correlation tests were carried out using R v4.5. GraphPad Prism was also used to plot the receiver operating curve (ROC). RESULTS: The results demonstrated the significant overexpression of lncRNAs SDMGC and downregulation of TRIM16 in GC tissues as compared to their corresponding marginal normal tissue samples (P = 0.005 and P = 0.009, respectively). No association with clinicopathological variables was observed for either SDMGC or TRIM16. Moreover, the results demonstrated a small positive correlation between SDMGC and TRIM16. Evaluation of the diagnostic value of SDMGC and TRIM16 showed poor biomarker potency for these genes. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, the results indicated an increase in the expression of SDMGC and a decline in the expression pattern of TRIM16 among the Iranian population. The results indicated a key tumor-accelerative function of SDMGC and a pivotal tumor-suppressing role of TRIM16 in GC patients.
