Comment on “Gastric cancer and family history”

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Korean J Intern Med. 2017;32(5):939-939
Publication date (electronic) : 2017 August 11
doi : https://doi.org/10.3904/kjim.2016.379
Department of Bacteriology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
Correspondence to Amin Talebi Bezmin Abadi, M.D. Department of Bacteriology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, PO Box 14115-111, Tehran, Iran Tel: +98-21-82884883 Fax: +98-21-82884883 E-mail: Amin.talebi@modaers.ac.ir
Received 2016 November 8; Accepted 2017 January 9.
See the Original "Gastric cancer and family history" in Volume 31 on page 1042.

We have read with great interest the paper written by Choi and Kim [1] entitled “Gastric cancer and family history” recently published in Korean Journal of Internal Medicine. In this review, authors discussed the relative risk of gastric cancer in subjects with a family history of the disease. However, some forgotten points in this paper should be addressed here to clarify any new suggestion in the management of gastric cancer. Authors state that “To date, no specific single nucleotide polymorphism has been shown to be associated with familial clustering of gastric cancer.” In an unpublished data, we have found a strong association between matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP9) polymorphisms and multiple family histories of gastric cancer. In parallel with our findings, Okada et al. [2] reported a same significant association between MMP9 polymorphisms and history of gastric cancer in families. However, these two different populations (Iran and Japan) where gastric cancer rates are relatively high, showed the almost same hint about mysterious links of gastric malignancies and certain genetic variations [3-5]. Thus, it can be concluded that clinicians can rely on specific gene polymorphism as a predictive tool in order to screen and treat high-risk patients. Despite this constructive and criticism, we know that authors presented an extensive and comprehensive review on gastric cancer and possibility of its screening in family members. It has been firmly declared that gastric cancer is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. Thus, any new dimension to managing better this complex disease is welcomed. In conclusion, the given evidence about the association between MMP9 polymorphisms and history of gastric cancer in families are very weak.

Notes

No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

References

1. Choi YJ, Kim N. Gastric cancer and family history. Korean J Intern Med 2016;31:1042–1053.
2. Okada R, Naito M, Hattori Y, et al. Matrix metalloproteinase 9 gene polymorphisms are associated with a multiple family history of gastric cancer. Gastric Cancer 2017;20:246–253.
3. Talebi Bezmin Abadi A. Helicobacter pylori and gastric cancer. Front Med (Lausanne) 2016;3:36.
4. Abadi AT, Kusters JG. Management of Helicobacter pylori infections. BMC Gastroenterol 2016;16:94.
5. Murata A, Matsuda S. Circumstance of endoscopic and laparoscopic treatments for gastric cancer in Japan: a review of epidemiological studies using a national administrative database. World J Gastrointest Endosc 2015;7:121–127.

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