Stomach cancer is split by location — cardia versus non-cardia — because the two behave differently and are linked to different causes, Helicobacter pylori chief among them for the non-cardia form covered here. A pooled Chinese study found a new locus at 1q22 specific to East Asian populations, near ASH1L.
Gastric (stomach) cancer is split by anatomical location: cardia cancer, near the junction with the oesophagus, is more closely linked to acid reflux and obesity; non-cardia cancer, in the rest of the stomach, is more closely linked to chronic Helicobacter pylori infection. The two behave differently enough, epidemiologically and genetically, that research treats them as separate diseases. This page is specifically about the non-cardia form.
Wang et al. pooled two Chinese genome-wide association studies of non-cardia gastric cancer: 2,031 cases and 4,970 controls in the combined meta-analysis, with 3,564 cases and 4,637 controls across further follow-up stages.
They report a new signal at 1q22 — rs80142782, the first variant on this page, near ASH1L — showing a substantial reduction in risk. Notably, this variant is reported as specific to East Asian populations; it does not appear to be a variable position in other ancestries, which is itself informative about how population-specific some cancer genetics findings are.
The second variant on this page, in PRKAA1, sits at a locus first identified in earlier gastric cancer genome-wide studies and carried forward in this dataset alongside the new 1q22 finding — an established signal re-examined here rather than a novel one from this particular paper.
Positions joined since this page was written
What this is The text above discusses the variants this page was written around. Since then the catalogue has joined 6 more positions to it, by shared trait or shared paper. They are listed here by the paper each came from; the text does not describe them, and each variant page carries that study's own record.
Sakaue S et al. 2021, Nature genetics rs2853940 (near RPL3P2), rs1050437 (HLA-C), rs375852527 (near HIGD1AP2), rs59585832 (TTC33) — PMID:34594039
Ishigaki K et al. 2020, Nature genetics rs3805495 (TTC33) — PMID:32514122
Yan C et al. 2020, Gut rs10029005 (LOC285419) — PMID:31383772
H. pylori infection is the dominant, treatable risk factor for non-cardia gastric cancer. It is detected by breath, stool, or endoscopic testing and cleared with antibiotic therapy. Neither variant on this page changes whether testing or treating an H. pylori infection is worthwhile — it is, independent of genotype.
The 1q22 finding's East Asian specificity is a reminder that a cancer genetics result from one population is not automatically portable to another — and that this page does not extend the claim beyond what the study found.
Cardia gastric cancer, which behaves differently and links more to reflux and obesity, is tracked separately where evidence supports it — sharing an organ does not mean sharing genetics or risk factors here either.
What a 23andMe/AncestryDNA export or raw VCF can and can't tell you about Non-Cardia Gastric Cancer comes down to these specific, well-studied positions — not a diagnosis.
The studies behind these variants recruited participants from different ancestries — a result found in one population doesn't always transfer to another. Based on 3 of 11 linked studies with a resolved discovery ancestry.
Databases, guidelines and references
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Non-Cardia Gastric Cancer. MyGeneLog™. https://www.mygenelog.com/conditions/non-cardia-gastric-cancer
No. Cardia and non-cardia gastric cancer are treated as separate diseases, linked to different causes — reflux and obesity for cardia, Helicobacter pylori infection chief among causes for non-cardia. This page is specifically about the non-cardia form.
No. H. pylori infection is the dominant, treatable risk factor for this cancer, detectable and curable independent of genotype. Nothing on this page changes whether testing or treating it is worthwhile.
The paper reports that this position does not appear to vary meaningfully in other ancestries studied. It is a reminder that some cancer genetics findings are population-specific rather than universal, and this page reports that limitation rather than glossing over it.
No — it sits at a locus identified in earlier gastric cancer genome-wide studies. This paper carried it forward in its own dataset alongside the new 1q22 finding, rather than reporting it as a novel result.
Free to reuse. This page's text is original writing from freely-available research, licensed CC BY 4.0 — reuse it, including commercially, with attribution to MyGeneLog™. It's general research-derived information, not medical advice or a diagnosis — see Terms of Use.