Abstract:Objective To analyze the association of stromal cell derived factor-1 (SDF-1) and microRNA-601 (miR-601) with the recurrence of early gastric cancer after endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD).Methods Medical records of 229 early gastric cancer patients admitted to the Shiyan Renmin Hospital from March 2020 to January 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. All patients underwent ESD for treatment. After a 12-month follow-up postoperatively, the patients were divided into the recurrence group (25 cases) and the non-recurrence group (204 cases) based on whether they experienced disease recurrence. The relative expression level of miR-601 in gastric mucosal tissues was detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, and the level of serum SDF-1 was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The levels of serum SDF-1 and miR-601 along with clinical data were compared between the two groups. The factors influencing postoperative recurrence of early gastric cancer were screened, and the efficacy of serum SDF-1 and miR-601 in predicting postoperative recurrence of early gastric cancer was evaluated.Results The levels of SDF-1 and miR-601 in the recurrence group were both higher than those in the non-recurrence group (P < 0.05). The proportions of lesions ≥ 4 cm, the lymph node metastasis rate and the percentage of T2 stage disease in the recurrence group were all higher than those in the non-recurrence group (P < 0.05). The multivariable stepwise logistic regression analysis exhibited that high level of miR-601 [O^R = 2.770 (95% CI: 1.158, 6.630) ], lymph node metastasis [O^R = 3.865 (95% CI: 1.615, 9.250) ], high level of serum SDF-1 [O^R = 3.059 (95% CI: 1.278, 7.320) ] and T2 stage disease [O^R = 4.108 (95% CI: 1.717, 9.832) ] were risk factors for postoperative recurrence of early gastric cancer (P < 0.05). The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the sensitivities of miR-601, serum SDF-1 and their combination in predicting postoperative recurrence of early gastric cancer were 80.0%, 84.0%, and 88.0%, with the specificities being 72.1%, 73.0%, and 93.6%, and the areas under the curves being 0.799, 0.803, 0.908, respectively.Conclusion Serum SDF-1 and miR-601 can be used to evaluate the recurrence of early gastric cancer patients after ESD surgery, and the combination of SDF-1 and miR-601 better predicts the recurrence.