long intergenic non-coding rna — linc00659 — expression changes in gastric cancer: lessons from northwestern iran

Background: gastric cancer (gc) is a multifactorial disease caused by environmental, infectious, and genetic factors. aberrant expression of long non-coding rnas (lncrnas) is considered a crucial feature of human cancer. they are excellent candidates as biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and prognosis, as well as potential therapeutic targets for cancer treatment. objectives: we assessed the expression levels of linc00659 among gc patients in ardabil, a high-risk region in northwestern iran [age-standardized incidence rates (asrs) = 51.8/100,000 for males and 24.9/100,000 for females], which has one of the highest rates of cardia gc in the world, to examine its potential as a diagnostic biomarker. methods: the expression of linc00659 in tumor and adjacent non-cancerous tissues (ancts) (a total of 82 samples) was evaluated using real-time qrt-pcr in ardabil province patients. the correlation between the linc00659 expression levels and clinicopathological features was assessed. results: linc00659 was down-regulated in more gc samples than controls, but we found no significant association between the linc00659 expression levels and gc risk between tumor samples compared to controls [fold change (mean ± se): 0.57 ± 0.13, p = 0.33]. after classifying patients into down-/up-regulation groups, a significant association was observed between linc00659 expression levels and tumor origin (cardia/non-cardia subsites; p = 0.01). conclusions: we found a significant association of linc00659 expression levels with the origin of the tumor. further research involving a larger sample size that encompasses diverse geographic and ethnic groups within iran is essential to enhance the validity of the findings and facilitate a deeper understanding of the functional mechanisms of linc00659 in gc.