Low expression of lncRNA APTR promotes gastric cancer progression

•APTR is actively expressed in gastric cancer cells.•Low expression of APTR is associated with poor clinical characteristics in patients with gastric cancer.•Silencing APTR promotes gastric cancer proliferation and invasiveness.•APTR expression is negatively associated with inflammatory signaling in the gastric tumor microenvironment.•LncRNA APRT is a potential biomarker for gastric cancer patients' diagnosis and prognosis, and could be a potential therapeutic target.