Frequent Methylation of Vimentin in Well-differentiated Gastric Carcinoma

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.