Pinto-Correia AL, Sousa H, Fragoso M, Moreira-Dias L, Lopes C, Medeiros R, Dinis-Ribeiro M. Gastric cancer in a Caucasian population: Role of pepsinogen C genetic variants. World J Gastroenterol 2006; 12(31): 5033-5036 [PMID: 16937501 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v12.i31.5033]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Mário Dinis-Ribeiro, Serviço de Gastrenterologia, Instituto Português de Oncologia do Porto FG EPE, Rua Dr. António Bernardino Almeida, Porto 4200-072, Portugal. mario@med.up.pt
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Rapid Communication
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World J Gastroenterol. Aug 21, 2006; 12(31): 5033-5036 Published online Aug 21, 2006. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v12.i31.5033
Gastric cancer in a Caucasian population: Role of pepsinogen C genetic variants
Ana L Pinto-Correia, Hugo Sousa, Maria Fragoso, Luís Moreira-Dias, Carlos Lopes, Rui Medeiros, Mário Dinis-Ribeiro
Ana L Pinto-Correia, Hugo Sousa, Molecular Oncology Group, Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto, Portugal
Maria Fragoso, Oncology Department, Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto, Portugal
Luís Moreira-Dias, Gastroenterology Department, Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto, Portugal
Carlos Lopes, Rui Medeiros, Molecular Oncology Group, Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto, Portugal; and ICBAS, Abel Salazar Institute for the Biomedical Sciences, Porto, Portugal
Mário Dinis-Ribeiro, Gastroenterology Department, Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto, Portugal; and CINTESIS / Faculty of Medicine University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Supported by the Portuguese League Against Cancer (Liga Portuguesa Contra o Cancro-Núcleo Regional do Norte) and Astra Zeneca Foundation
Correspondence to: Mário Dinis-Ribeiro, Serviço de Gastrenterologia, Instituto Português de Oncologia do Porto FG EPE, Rua Dr. António Bernardino Almeida, Porto 4200-072, Portugal. mario@med.up.pt
Received: April 6, 2006 Revised: April 19, 2006 Accepted: April 24, 2006 Published online: August 21, 2006
Abstract
AIM: 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).
CONCLUSION: 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.
