Amplification of the c-myc oncogene in human stomach cancers.

Amplified c-myc oncogene was found in the DNAs of 2 of 11 human stomach cancers transplanted into nude mice; the amplification was 8- to 10-fold in one tumor and 13- to 15-fold in the other. Both tumors in which the c-myc oncogene was amplified were poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas, but there was no clear-cut correlation between the histological types or growth rates of the tumors and amplification of the c-myc oncogene. No amplification of the c-myc gene was detected in DNAs from 4 cultured stomach cancer cell lines, 19 primary stomach cancers or 11 metastases to lymph nodes from human stomach cancers.