ObjectiveTo evaluate the association of plasma Octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (OCT4) mRNA expressions with the clinicopathological properties and the prognosis in patients with gastric carcinoma (GC).Methods137 patients with GC were enrolled from April 2010 to April 2011.Peripheral blood sample was collected ResultsPlasma OCT4 mRNA expressions was positively correlated with tumor size (R=0.351, P<0.001).High expression of OCT4 mRNA expression was positively associated with worse overall survival (OS) (P<0.001).Univariate Cox’s proportional hazards regression indicated that high expression of plasma OCT4 mRNA (P<0.001), poor differentiation (P=0.001), high N stage (P=0.034), and high TNM stage (P=0.010) could predict shorter OS.Furthermore, multivariate Cox’s regression revealed that plasma high expression of OCT4 mRNA (P<0.001) was an independent risk factors for OS in GC patients.ConclusionCirculating OCT4 mRNA expression may be served as novel and convincing prognostic biomarkers in GC patients..Total RNA was extracted from peripheral blood samples.Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to evaluated relative expressions of microRNA and OCT4.The median follow-up period was 51 months with last follow-up in February 2016.