UNLABELLED: The aim of this study was to verify genetic and epigenetic alterations in gastric cancer patients from Pará state, northern Brazil. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Exon 11 of KIT and two promoter polymorphisms (-160 C/A and -347 G/GA) of the E-cadherin gene (CDH1), and their correlation with the promoter methylation status were analyzed. RESULTS: No genetic alterations in KIT were found. Promoter polymorphisms revealed an increased probability of developing gastric cancer, especially of the diffuse-type, in patients carrying -160 A and -347 GA alleles. Analyses of CDH1 methylation suggested a significant difference between hypermethylated and non-hypermethylated samples, with a positive association between the -160 A allele and hypermethylation. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that -160 A and -347 GA polymorphisms may increase the chance of developing gastric cancer in the studied population and that -160 A polymorphism seems to be related to the hypermethylation pattern of the promoter region of CDH1.
UNLABELLED: The aim of this study was to verify genetic and epigenetic alterations in gastric cancerpatients from Pará state, northern Brazil. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Exon 11 of KIT and two promoter polymorphisms (-160 C/A and -347 G/GA) of the E-cadherin gene (CDH1), and their correlation with the promoter methylation status were analyzed. RESULTS: No genetic alterations in KIT were found. Promoter polymorphisms revealed an increased probability of developing gastric cancer, especially of the diffuse-type, in patients carrying -160 A and -347 GA alleles. Analyses of CDH1 methylation suggested a significant difference between hypermethylated and non-hypermethylated samples, with a positive association between the -160 A allele and hypermethylation. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that -160 A and -347 GA polymorphisms may increase the chance of developing gastric cancer in the studied population and that -160 A polymorphism seems to be related to the hypermethylation pattern of the promoter region of CDH1.