Further investigation in mouse tissues by assessing the early-stage features of gastric cancer such as parietal cell loss (atrophy), mucus neck cell hyperplasia and development of metaplasia (SPEM) that occurs during the progression to gastric cancer showed that, compared to WT, TxA23 mice deficient in IFN-γ lacked hyperplasia, had more healthy parietal cells, and minimal mucus neck cell hyperplasia [86]. Here, IFNG is linked to gastric cancer.