Loss of heterozygosity and mRNA expression at deleted in colorectal cancer gene locus in gastric cancer

Aim: To assess the effects of the deleted in colorectal cancer (DCC) gene changes on the development and progression of gastric cancer.

Methods: The loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and mRNA expression DCC gastric cancer using a PCR-based detection method.

Results: LOH was found in 35.3% (18/51) of the specimens, and the LOH was more frequently detected in tumors from patients with stage III or IV cancer (50.5%) than those in stages I or II (14.3%) (P < 0.05). The occurrence of LOH was not found to correlate with the histological type, tumor size, invasion depth and lymph node metastasis of gastric cancer. The mRNA expression of the DCC gene was studied in 26 of the 51 cases, of which LOE was found in 30.8% (8/26). LOE was not significantly correlated to LOH or other clinicopathological parameters.

Conclusion: LOH and LOE of DCC gene are frequently encountered in gastric cancer, and the LOH of DCC gene is a late event associated with progression of gastric cancer.