RESUMEN
Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the deadliest tumors due to its competence to invade and metastasize. The DNA repair gene (XRCC1), interleukin-8 (IL-8) gene, and B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) gene play a crucial role in the development and progression of GC. This study aimed to evaluate the expression of these target genes in GC patients in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Gastric cancer tissues were collected from 29 patients diagnosed with gastric adenocarcinoma that underwent gastric resection, and 21 tissue samples were obtained from healthy patients that underwent gastroscopy. The gastric tissues were collected in different hospitals in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah cities in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Moreover, the data regarding Helicobacter pylori, age, gender, and stage of the disease were recorded and analyzed using GraphPad Prism. The gene expression levels of XRCC1, IL-8, and Bcl-2 from gastric tissue were studied by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The results showed that H. pylori infection was equally distributed among males and females in the tissues of gastric patients, while most of the H. pylori-negative patients were females. It is also found that gastric patients aged 30-60 years old are more commonly tested for the H. pylori test. Accordingly, in this study, patients diagnosed with gastric inflammation more often tested positive for H. pylori, while patients diagnosed with gastric cancer tested negative for this infection. Additionally, it was found that the target genes (XRCC1, IL-8, and Bcl-2) were significantly upregulated in GC patients, compared to the healthy group. Finally, the result revealed that XRCC1, IL-8, and Bcl-2 were upregulated in the Kurdish patients with GC, compared to the healthy control group. Targeting XRCC1, IL-8, and Bcl-2 genes can be an interesting field and promising strategy for cancer treatment.
