Background: Recently, it was shown that the vimentin gene, usually activated in mesenchymal cells, was highly methylated in colorectal carcinoma.
Materials and methods: The methylation status of the vimentin gene was examined in primary carcinomas and the corresponding normal tissues derived from 37 patients with gastric carcinoma using quantitative methylation-specific PCR (qMSP) and the correlation between the methylation status and the clinicopathological findings was evaluated.
Results: Aberrant methylation of the vimentin gene was detected in 14 out of 37 (38%) primary gastric carcinomas. This result suggested that the aberrant methylation of the vimentin gene was frequent in gastric carcinomas. Subsequently, clinicopathological data were correlated with the methylation score. A significant difference was observed in histology (p=0.0429). In addition, a trend was shown toward advancement of gastric carcinomas with vimentin methylation (p=0.0588).
Conclusion: In gastric carcinomas, well-differentiated adenocarcinoma was significantly methylated compared to poorly differentiated.