P53 genetic polymorphism of gastric cancer in Korea.
BACKGROUND
Deletion or functional loss of the p53 tumor suppression gene plays a role in oncogenic transformation. The codon 72 polymorphism on exon 4 in the p53 gene produces variant proteins with either arginine (Arg) or proline (Pro), and is associated with an increased susceptibility of cancers of the lung, esophagus, breast, cervix and nasopharynx on a genetic basis. We designed this study to evaluate the influence of the p53 codon 72 polymorphism on gastric cancer in Korea.


METHODS
We extracted the peripheral blood samples in 84 patients with gastric cancer, 66 patients with H. pylori-associated chronic gastritis and 43 controls without H. pylori infection. PCR-RFLP analysis was performed to detect p53 codon 72 polymorphism in these patients.


RESULTS
There was no specific genotype of p53 polymorphism in the gastric cancer group compared to the other groups and no difference in genotypes by histologic subtypes. Classified by tumor location, Pro/Pro genotype was associated with an increase in proximal cancer and Arg/Arg genotype with distal cancer. As the frequency of p53 Arg allele increased, the cancer was of a more poorly differentiated type.


CONCLUSIONS
The specific genotype of p53 polymorphism seems to correlate with tumor location. Increased frequency of p53 Arg allele is associated with more poorly differentiated cancers.
Chung
Woo Chul
WC
Department of Internal Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Lee
Kang Moon
KM
Lee
Bo In
BI
Chun
Ji Sung
JS
Lee
So Yeon
SY
Chang
U-Im
UI
Park
Soo Heon
SH
Yang
Jin Mo
JM
Choi
Kyu Yong
KY
Chung
In-Sik
IS
D000483:Alleles; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D005260:Female; D016158:Genes, p53 / Q000235:genetics*; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000235:genetics*
D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53