The poor survival and recurrence rate in gastric adenocarcinoma highlights the need for cancer gene discovery. Towards this end, we globally assessed the expression of an emerging class of small non-coding RNAs, called PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs). We analysed the transcriptomes of 358 non-malignant stomach tissue and gastric adenocarcinoma samples, and found that nearly half of the expressed piRNAs were overexpressed in tumours. Our gastric piRNA atlas showed that most piRNAs were embedded in protein-coding sequences rather than known piRNA clusters. Furthermore, we identified a three-piRNA signature associated with recurrence-free survival. In this proof-of-principle study, we demonstrate the potential clinical utility of piRNAs in gastric cancer.
Keywords: Epigenetics; Gastric adenocarcinoma; PIWI; PIWI-interacting RNAs; Patient outcome.