Chen TH, et al. - The role of plasma MicroRNAs (miRNAs) in the natural course of gastric cancer, from intestinal metaplasia to early cancer, was explored. Researchers separated participants into healthy control, intestinal metaplasia (IM), and dysplasia/early cancer (pT1a/b) groups. In patients with precancerous lesions or gastric adenocarcinoma, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction data demonstrated circulating miRNA-22-3p had a significantly different expression. The study findings suggested that circulating miRNA-22-3p could have value as a potential biomarker for gastric precancerous dysplasia and early cancer detection.