RUNX1 and neoplasm: We observed that 20.8% of GC tissues stained positive for RUNX1 protein which was significantly lower than that observed in adjacent non-tumor tissues (62.3% P < 0.01; Figure 4E), suggesting that RUNX1 expression was down-regulated in GC tissues, and was inversely correlated with miR-215 expression (Figure 4F; P = 0.003).