Stomach cancer comprises a malignancy with feeble prognosis. In gastric carcinogenesis. molecular alterations in the apoptosis-related genes hive been described In this study, the expression of BCL2-like-12 (BCL2L12) gene. discovered and cloned by members of our group), Was investigated in a statistically significant sample size of cancerous and non-cancerous stomach tissues and gastric cancer cells with quantitative real-time PCR methodology BCL2L12 transcript was indicated ill cancer gastric tissues to range from 29 to 53200 mRNA copies BCL2L12/10(6) mRNA copies GAPDH Significant associations of BCL2L12 with gastric tumors of the early stages (I/II) (p = 0.044) and of intestinal histotype (p = 0.034) was substantiated Both univariate and multivariate analyses disclosed, respectively, BCL2L12 relationship with disease-free (p = 0.006 and p = 0.025) and overall patients' survival (p = 0.007 and p = 0.022). Our results open new horizons for the possible application of BCL2L12 as a novel prognostic indicator of gastric cancer. (c) 2009 Elsevier Inc All rights reserved