Objective  To investigate the expression of a disintergin and metalloprotease 12 (ADAM12), mucin 3A (MUC3A) and mucin 17 (MUC17) in gastric cancer and the relationship between them and survival prognosis.

Methods  Information from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis 2 (GEPIA2) databases was collected, and R 4.2.2 as well as SPSS software were used to analyse the differential expression, survival-prognosis relationship, pan-cancer expression, and correlation between different clinicopathological features and expressions of ADAM12, MUC3A and MUC17 genes in gastric cancer. The expression levels of the three genes in normal tissues were analysed by Human Protein Atlas (HPA) database. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses were used to evaluate the potential functions of the three genes. The expression of ADAM12, MUC3A and MUC17 in tumour tissues and paracancerous tissues was further verified using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (q-PCR).

Results  Bioinformatics analysis and q-PCR results showed that the expression of ADAM12, MUC3A and MUC17 were low in normal tissues and all upregulated in gastric cancer (P<0.05), and ADAM12 was accompanied by a poor prognosis in gastric cancer (P<0.05). The three genes were enriched in tumor-related pathways and associated with the development of gastric cancer.

Conclusion  ADAM12, MUC3A and MUC17 show high expression in gastric cancer, of which ADAM12 is an influencing factor in the prognosis of gastric cancer. All three genes are associated with the progression of tumors and may be potential therapeutic targets for gastric cancer.

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