Reduced expression of circulating microRNA-218 in gastric cancer and correlation with tumor invasion and prognosis

Table 1 microRNA-218 expression in sera of normal subjects and gastric cancer patients

Parameters	n	microRNA-218 expression			P value
		Low	Middle	High
Age					0.0816
≤ Mean	22	11	8	3
> Mean	46	24	16	6
Gender					0.0866
Male	49	24	19	6
Female	19	11	4	4
Location					0.916
Upper	19	9	8	2
Middle	12	6	5	1
Lower	37	20	10	7
T-stage1					0.018
T1	19	4	12	3
T2	17	9	6	2
T3	15	10	3	2
T4a	10	6	3	1
T4b	7	4	3	0
N- stage1					0.021
N0	16	3	6	7
N1	11	6	4	1
N2	10	7	2	1
N3a	2	2	0	0
Nx	29	16	10	3
Metastasis1					0.003
Metastasis	28	20	6	2
Non-metastasis	40	11	19	10
Grade2					0.012
Well differentiated	26	10	13	3
Moderately differentiated	24	12	9	3
Poorly differentiated	18	15	1	2
Resection					0.0662
Resections	39	18	12	9
No-resections	29	16	10	3

¹Tumor stage was determined using the 2009 TNM staging classification system.

²Tumor grade was determined using the Fuhrman classification system (well differentiated = grade 1/2; moderately differentiated = grade 3; and poorly differentiated = grade 4).

Table 2 microRNA-218 expression in serum of healthy individuals and gastric cancer patients

Variable	n	microRNA-218 expression			P value
		Low	Medium	High
GC	68	36	24	8
NS	56	7	32	17	0.018

GC: Gastric cancer; NS: Normal serum.

Table 3 Cox regression analysis parameters for overall survival in gastric cancer (Backward: LR)

Variable	B	SE	Wald	df	P value	HR	95%CI
miR-218 expression (high vs low)	1.161	0.8556	4.284	1	0.035	3.162	1.062-9.401
T-status (T1-2vs T3-4)	1.713	0.4126	5.536	1	0.027	3.347	1.193-31.643
N-status (N0-1vs N2-3)	2.026	0.583	8.746	1	0.007	9.321	2.438-37.465
Metastasis (non-M vs M)	-1.463	0.522	7.698	1	0.005	0.231	0.091-0.653
Grade1	1.162	0.484	5.782	1	0.016	3.212	1.230-8.265
Grade2	2.312	0.664	12.136	1	0.000	10.061	2.753-36.857

¹Moderately differentiated vs well differentiated;

²Poorly differentiated vs well differentiated. B: Coefficient; df: Degree of freedom; M: Metastasis; non-M: Non-Metastasis; miR: microRNA.