Methylation of the MGMT Gene is Frequently Detected in Advanced Gastric Carcinoma

Background: Recently, Herfarth et al. reported that a subset of colorectal tumors was characterized by a specific methylation pattern in the MGMT promoter associated with reduced MGMT expression. Materials and Methods: Methylation status of the MGMT gene was examined in primary carcinomas and the corresponding normal tissues derived from 38 patients with gastric cancer using quantitative methylation-specific PCR (qMSP) and the correlation between the methylation status and the clinicopathological findings was evaluated. Results: Aberrant methylation of the MGMT gene was detected in 4 out of the 38 (11%) primary gastric carcinomas, suggesting that the methylation of MGMT is observed in gastric carcinomas as well as colorectal ones. The clinicopathological data were correlated with the methylation results. A significant difference was observed in the extent of tumor (p=0.0470), lymph node metastasis (p=0.0470), and TNM stage (p=0.0377) ( Table I ). Moreover, a trend was shown toward large maximal tumor size in methylated tumors (p=0.134). Conclusion: MGMT was more frequently methylated in advanced gastric carcinomas.