Plasma from healthy controls had significantly lower levels of miR-451 and miR-486 compared with the plasma of GC patients (collected before the operation). Interestingly, however, when the levels of these miRNAs were analyzed selleck compound from tumor tissue or surrounding normal tissue, the tumor tissue exhibited lower expression of miR-451, and no significant difference in expression was observed for miR-486 [9]. In contrast, Song et al. [10] found a reduction

in miR-451 and miR-486 levels in a GC serum pool compared with a control serum pool in their initial TaqMan low-density array, where the expression of 377 miRNAs was analyzed. Based on quantitative RT-PCR validation, they suggested three miRNAs as potential biomarkers for GC detection, miR-221, miR-744, and miR376c. Furthermore, miR-221 plasma levels were already higher in patients with dysplastic lesions, and in a retrospective approach, the levels of all three markers increased during GC development [10]. These studies demonstrate that circulating miRNAs could be a valuable diagnostic tool for cancer detection. They also show that miRNA expression patterns in plasma might not be identical

to those in tumor samples, and more insights are needed to understand the exact mechanisms of miRNA release from cancerous and normal tissues. The role of miRNAs as prognostic factors in GC has been recently studied in two reports in which it was demonstrated that low levels of miR-125a-5p and Saracatinib in vivo miR-146a Morin Hydrate were independent prognostic factors in respect of overall survival [11, 12]. MiR-125a-5p directly targets ERBB2, and although trastuzumab did not have an effect alone, it enhanced the growth inhibitory effect of pre-miR-125a in GC cells [11]. MiR-146a targeted EGFR and interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase, and overexpression of miR146a inhibited migration and invasion of GC cells [12]. MiR-21 and miR-181b showed high expression in gastric tumors compared

with normal tissue, and overexpression of both was associated with a worse overall survival in patients either treated with S-1/oxaliplatin or with doxifluridine/oxaliplatin [13]. Brenner et al. [14] compared miRNA levels in GC patients with or without recurrence within 36 months of surgery. MiR-451, miR-199a-3p, and miR-195 were highly expressed in the patients with early recurrence, and low miR-451 expression predicted a better disease-specific survival [14]. Clearly, miRNAs associate with meaningful clinicopathological parameters such as survival, but there is some heterogeneity of the results that can depend on the sample type (plasma, nonneoplastic tissue, or cancer tissue) and stage of the disease. One possible mechanism of miRNA action in GC is their effect on invasion. MiR-370 is highly expressed in human gastric tumors, and its overexpression leads to enhanced growth, migration, and anchorage-independent growth in AGS-GFPM2 GC cells.