Prevalence of factor V Leiden and prothrombin G20210A in patients with gastric cancer

AIM： To analyze the prevalence of the two commonest thrombophilic mutations, factor V Leiden and prothrombin G20210A, in patients with gastric cancer. METHODS： One hundred and twenty-one patients with primary gastric carcinoma and 130 healthy subjects, comparable for age and sex, were investigated. Factor V Leiden was detected by using polymerase chain reaction and restriction enzyme digestion, and prothrombin G20210A gene mutation by allele-specific PCR. RESULTS： Among the 121 cancer patients, factor V Leiden was found in 4 cases （GA genotype： 3.3%） and prothrombin G20210A in 10 cases （GA genotype： 8.3%）. Of the 130 control subjects, factor V Leiden was detected in 6 cases （GA genotype： 4.6%） and prothrombin G20210A in 8 cases （GA genotype： 6.1%）. No double heterozygous carriers of both mutations were found in either group. The prevalence of both factor V Leiden and prothrombin G20210A variant was not statistically different between the cancer patients and the healthy subjects. CONCLUSION： Our study suggests that, in gastric cancer, the risk factors of thrombophilic cancer state are on acquired rather than on a genetic basis and that prothrombin G20210A does not seem to be a cofactor in gastric cancer pathogenesis.