ASSOCIATION BETWEEN RESTRICTION-FRAGMENT-LENGTH-POLYMORPHISM OF THE L-MYC GENE AND SUSCEPTIBILITY TO GASTRIC-CANCER

Background L-myc polymorphism has been documented to be a representati ve genetic trait which is related an individual's susceptibility to se veral cancers. However, there have been no reports concerning any sign ificant association between susceptibility to gastric cancer and L-myc polymorphism. Methods The distribution of L-myc polymorphism in 61 pa tients with gastric cancer was determined by polymerase chain reaction -based restriction fragment length polymorphism and compared with that of 107 healthy control subjects. Results There was a significant diff erence in the distribution of both genotypes (P = 0.024) and allele fr equencies (P = 0.026) between the two groups. The relative risk of gas tric cancer for genotypes with the shorter (S) allele was 3.09 compare d with the longer (L) allele homozygote. No significant correlation wi th clinicopathological features of the cancers except for prognosis wa s found. The patients with SS genotypes had a worse prognosis than tho se with LL or LS genotypes (P = 0.029). Conclusion L-myc polymorphism may be significant in an individual's susceptibility to gastric cancer in Japan, and may be a useful marker for identifying patients at high risk of developing gastric cancer.