Microsatellite instability and gastric cancer

Abstract

Microsatellite instability is caused by an alteration of the mismatch repair systems, which can affect microsatellites within the entire human genome, causing errors in their replication. Published studies, mainly in the English literature, have found that some tumors, such as gastric ones, can express microsatellite instability. In this review, a description of the mismatch repair systems and their relationship with the presence of microsatellite instability in gastric tumors is presented, as well as its possible clinical utility, as an associated factor in the response to immunotherapy treatment, in patients with gastric cancer.