Interrelationship between MYC gene numerical aberrations and protein expression in individuals from northern Brazil with early gastric adenocarcinoma

Gastric cancer is the second leading cause of death by cancer in Brazil. Early gastric cancer represents ∼10% of gastric cancer cases in some services of Brazil, which underscores the need for early gastric cancer diagnosis that could lead to better prognosis. There are few published studies of cytogenetic alterations in early gastric cancer. To evaluate MYC copy number and its protein expression, we performed fluorescence in situ hybridization and immunohistochemical analyses in five early gastric adenocarcinomas in individuals from northern Brazil. Three signals of MYC and MYC immunoreactivity were observed in all five samples, regardless of histologic type, tumor extension, or lymph nodal status. These novel findings concerning MYC copy number alteration in early gastric cancer suggest that MYC alteration is observed in the beginning of gastric carcinogenesis and could be used as a therapeutic target.