RUNX3 and chronic gastritis: Our previous study and others indicate that RUNX3 downregulation is frequently observed in chronic gastritis, intestinal metaplasia, and gastric adenoma in the GCI group (Li et al, 2002; Kim et al, 2004), which are thought to be precancerous (Safatle-Ribeiro et al, 1996; Tanigawa et al, 2000; Nishizawa et al, 2002).