Abstract:Objective To analyze the changes and clinical significance of growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) and gastric cancer antigen 724 (CA724) in serum of patients with gastric cancer. Methods Totally 84 patients with gastric cancer (A group), 84 patients with benign gastric lesions (B group) and 84 healthy people (C group) were selected in our hospital from July 2016 to December 2017. The serum GDF15 and CA724 of all subjects were respectively measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and electrochemiluminescence. The changes of GDF15 and CA724 levels and their relationship with clinicopathological characteristics were analyzed. Results The highest serum levels of GDF15 and C A724 was in group A, the second was in group B and the lowest was in group C (P?0.05). In group A, the higher the lymph node metastasis and clinicopathological stage were, the higher the expression of GDF15 was, and the difference was statistically significant (P?0.05). In patients with lymph node metastasis, the expression of CA724 was higher, and the difference was statistically significant (P?0.05). The area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, 95% CI, sensitivity, specificity and critical point in GDF15 diagnose of the gastric cancer were 0.838 (95% CI: 0.728, 0.940), 0.584, 0.836 and 0.23?ng/ml, respectively. The AUC, 95% CI, sensitivity, specificity and critical point in CA724 diagnose of the gastric cancer were 0.890 (95% CI: 0.807, 0.970), 0.902, 0.658 and 6.02?U/ml, respectively. The AUC, sensitivity and specificity in combination of GDF15 and CA724 were 0.923 (95% CI: 0.845, 0.992), 0.925 and 0.864, respectively. The AUC, sensitivity and specificity had significantly increased in combination of GDF15 and CA724 compared with the detection of gastric cancer by GDF15 or CA724 alone. Conclusion Detection of GDF15 and CA724 is of great significance in differentiating the nature of gastric lesions. Combined detection of GDF15 and CA724 is helpful to improve the detection rate of gastric cancer and guide the correct evaluation of patients’ condition and prognosis.