Significance of Serum Apelin Levels as a Biomarker for Gastric Cancer Diagnosis.

Objectives: Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the common lethal disease and the most common cancers worldwide and in Iran. North of Iran is known as a common area of gastric cancer and a high-risk zone in Iran. Apelin is a biomolecule that plays roles in various types of cancers. This study was designed to investigate the serum apelin-12 levels in patients with gastric cancer as a predictive marker and affordable noninvasive alternative.

Methods: In this case-control study, the case group included 42 patients with gastric cancer who were diagnosed by endoscopy and pathological findings. The participants in the case group were compared with the control group including 43 healthy individuals with no history of gastric cancer in their first-degree relatives and visiting the lab for routine tests. Apelin-12 serum level was assessed using ELISA kit. Data were analyzed in SPSS V16.0 applying Fisher's exact test, Mann-Whitney U test, and t-test.

Results: Serum apelin-12 in patients with gastric cancer was found to be statistically lower than that in healthy individuals (p< 0.05). There were no significant differences between clinicopathological characteristics and apelin-12 expression. The median survival time in experimental and control groups was 16.0 months.

Conclusions: In the current study, serum levels of apelin were significantly different between cases and controls.