Correlations between gastric cancer family history and ROBO2 and RASSF2A gene methylations

Objective: To explore the correlation between ROBO2 and RASSF2A gene methylations and gastric cancer family history. Materials and Methods: ROBO2 and RASSF2A gene methylations in gastric cancer tissues and peri.cancerous tissues were detected with methylation.specific PCR in 36. patients with gastric cancer family history and 33 without gastric cancer family history. The correlations of ROBO2 and RASSF2A gene methylations with family history, and clinical and pathological characteristics were analyzed. Results: ROBO2 and RASSF2A gene methylations were all significantly higher in gastric cancer tissues (30% and 26%) than in peri-cancerous tissues (0% and 0%) (all P 0.05). ROBO2 gene methylation was significantly lower in the patients with gastric cancer family history (17%, 6/36) than in the patients without gastric cancer family history (41%, 15/33) (P 0.05). Conclusion: ROBO2 and RASSF2A gene methylations may be related to gastric tumorigenesis, and ROBO2 gene methylation is associated with sporadic gastric cancer.