Aberrant promoter methylation in gastric lymphomas

Aberrant gene promoter methylation of p15, p16, p73, VHL, caspase 8, and hMLH1 was investigated in gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) and diffuse large B cell (DLBC) lymphomas, with nodal marginal zone B-cell (MZBC, counterpart of MALT) and DLBC lymphomas studied in comparison. MALT/MZBC lymphomas shared similar methylation patterns, with more frequent p 15 and p 16 methylation than gastric/nodal DLBC lymphomas, which themselves had comparable methylation patterns. Therefore, gastric MALT appeared biologically similar to nodal MZCB lymphoma, but distinct from gastric DLBC lymphoma. Gastric DLBC is more prevalent than MALT lymphoma in our population. Our results suggested that this might not represent a higher transformation rate of the latter to the former.link_to_OA_fulltex