Gastric cancer in a Caucasian population: role of pepsinogen C genetic variants.
OBJECTIVE
To study the role of an insertion/deletion polymorphism in the pepsinogen C (PGC) gene, an effective marker for terminal differentiation of the stomach mucosa, in the susceptibility to the development of gastric lesions.


METHODS
The study was performed with 99 samples of known gastric lesions and 127 samples without evidence of neoplastic disease. PCR was employed and the 6 polymorphic alleles were amplified: Allele 1 (510 bp), Allele 2 (480 bp), Allele 3/4 (450/460 bp), Allele 5 (400 bp) and Allele 6 (310 bp).


RESULTS
Our results revealed that Allele 6 carriers seemed to have protection against the development of any gastric lesion (OR = 0.34; P<0.001), non-dysplastic lesions associated with gastric adenocarcinoma such as atrophy or intestinal metaplasia (OR = 0.28; P<0.001) or invasive GC (OR = 0.39; P = 0.004).


CONCLUSIONS
Our study reveals that the Allele 6 carrier status has a protective role in the development of gastric lesions, probably due to its association with higher expression of PGC. Moreover, the frequency of Allele 6 carriers in the control group is far higher than that obtained in Asian populations, which might represent a genetic gap between Caucasian and Asian populations.
Pinto-Correia
Ana L
AL
Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto, Portugal.
Sousa
Hugo
H
Fragoso
Maria
M
Moreira-Dias
Luís
L
Lopes
Carlos
C
Medeiros
Rui
R
Dinis-Ribeiro
Mário
M
D000483:Alleles; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000473:pathology*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D020115:Pepsinogen C / Q000235:genetics*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012306:Risk; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics*; D044465:White People
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D020115:Pepsinogen C; D004247:DNA