Novel risk markers for gastric cancer screening: Present status and future prospects

Figure 3 Relationship between gastric mucosae methylation levels and Helicobacter pylori infection/gastric cancer (modified from Maekita et al[34]). This shows mean methylation levels for the THBD and CDKN2A genes as measured by quantitative methylation-specific PCR in endoscopically biopsied gastric mucosae. Among Helicobacter pylori (HP)-negative cases, non-cancerous gastric mucosae in gastric cancer (GC) patients showed higher methylation levels than gastric mucosa in healthy volunteers. Among HP-positive cases, methylation levels were high regardless of the presence or absence of GC. Methylation susceptibility differed among genes. Compared to THBD, CDKN2A showed very little induction of methylation. The error bar denotes standard error. HV: healthy volunteers; Pt: patients.