This study was performed to see if a particular polymorphism in the l-myc, a nuclear oncogene at the 1p32 locus, might be associated with greater risk of gastric cancer, lung cancer and hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) in Korean patients.,Genomic DNA, derived from patients diagnosed with gastric cancer (n=57), lung cancer (n=39), HCC (n=35) and healthy individuals (n= 176), was examined. The l-myc polymorphism under study was visualized by PCR followed by EcoRI digestion.,There was no significant difference in the distribution of the l-myc polymorphism genotypes and allele frequencies between the cancer patients and the controls.,The l-myc polymorphism does not appear to be indicative of elevated risk of cancers of the stomach, lung and HCC.