Serum Long Non-Coding RNA CCAT2 is a Potential Diagnostic and Prognostic Marker for Gastric Cancer

Aim: This study aims to explore the role of serum long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) colon cancer-associated transcript 2 (CCAT2) as a diagnostic marker for gastric cancer (GC). Methods: We recruited 76 patients with GC admitted to our hospital (the observation group, OG) and 83 healthy volunteers undergoing physical examinations during the same period (the control group, CG). CCAT2 expression was tested and its correlation with clinicopathological characteristics of GC was analyzed. We also explored the value of CCAT2 in assessing the treatment efficacy, predicting the fatality, and evaluating the prognosis of patients. Results: We detected higher CCAT2 levels in OG than in CG and the levels in OG decreased after treatment (p < 0.05). CCAT2 was highly predictive of treatment outcome and fatality in HCC. CCAT2 levels varied notably among GC patients with different pathological stages, lymph node metastasis, tumor sizes, and differentiation degrees (p < 0.05). The prognosis of patients was better in the low CCAT2 group than that in the high CCAT2 group (p < 0.05). Conclusion: CCAT2 is highly expressed in GC and affects GC progression. CCAT2 is a potential new blood marker for GC considering its high efficiency in predicting treatment outcome and fatality of patients.