c-met, APC and P53 gene are sensitive molecular polymarkers for diagnosis of human gastric cancers in Taiwan

W-S Tzou^a,b, J-Y Wang^a,c, C-H Wu^d, J-S Hsieh^c, T-J Huang^c, CPD Chen^e, K-F Huang^e, Y-S Chung^e, S-R Lin^a

^aMedicoGenomic Research Center, Taiwan, ^bSchool of Biotechnology, ^cDepartment of Surgery, ^dInstitute of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung Medical, Taiwan, ^eAsia Hepato Gene Co, Ltd

AIM:Recent advance for detection of tumor DNA in peripheral blood has spawned new possibilites for improving the outcome of patients with gastric cancer after tumor resection. The aim of this study was to search for the presence of genetic alterations in DNA extracted from the tissue and serum of gastric cancer patients and healthy subjects. METHODS:We simultaneously evaluate the significance of APC, p53 gene mutations and c-met gene overexpression in cancer tissues and their paired serum of 34 patients with gastric cancer. RESULTS:Overall, we found at least one of these genes alterations in tumor tissues of 74% (25/34) of gastric cancer patients. Comparison of three molecular markers, the individual detection rate in the serum was 18.2%, 72.2%, and 27.3% for APC, c-met, and p53 genes, respectively. Of these patients, 60.0% (15/25) was identified as positive in their serum whereas all healthy controls remained negative. The overall positive tumor DNA detection rates in the serum were 66.7% (8/12) in stage 1 classification, 66.7% (4/6) in stage 2, 50.0% (2/4) in stage 3, and 33.3% (1/3) in stage 4. CONCLUSIONS:These data suggest that the identification of circulating tumor DNA using the molecular detection of APC, c-met, and p53 gene alterations may be a potential tool for early detection of micrometastases, and further for tumor staging by molecular markers in gastric cancer patients.

Paper presented at the International Symposium on Predictive Oncology and Intervention Strategies; Nice, France; February 7 - 10, 2004; in poster session 893 (Molecular pathology).