SE translocation gene but not zinc finger or X-linked factor is down-regulated in gastric cancer.

Aim: The current study aimed to identify the expression levels of (), , () in gastric cancer tissues and their corresponding adjacent non-cancerous tissues (ANCTs).

Background: SET has been first identified as a component of a fusion protein produced by chromosomal rearrangement in a patient with acute undifferentiated leukemia. Subsequently, multiple functions have been attributed to this gene in different disorders such as cancer and Alzheimer's disease. The expression of SET is regulated by ZFX, a transcription factor which has a potential role in gastric cancer.

Methods: In this case-control study, we evaluated the expression of and in gastric cancer tissues (n=28) and their corresponding ANCTs (n=28) via quantitative real-time PCR.

Results: gene was down-regulated in tumoral tissues compared with ANCTs (expression ratio=0.25, P=0.015). However, the expression of was similar between tumoral tissues and ANCTs (expression ratio=0.97, P=0.945). We detected a significant association between the site of primary tumor and relative expression in tumoral tissues versus ANCTs, where this gene was down-regulated in all tumors originating from cardia. Based on the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, the diagnostic power of transcription levels of in gastric cancer was 0.68. Finally, we observed remarkable correlations between expression levels of and both in tumoral tissues (R=0.38, P<0.05) and in ANCTs (R=0.23, P<0.05).

Conclusion: Overall, our results imply the role of SET1 in gastric cancer and potentially functional associations between this gene and ZFX in gastric tissues.