(ChemotherapyAdvisor)– Methylation of specific genes in prostate cancer may be used as diagnosticand prognostic biomarkers, according to researchers of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester,MN. This conclusion is based on a paper entitled “Global Methylation Profilingfor Risk Prediction of Prostate Cancer,” which was published in Clinical Cancer Research on May 15.
Inthis study, the investigators aimed to determine if hypermethylation ofspecific gene promoters could be used diagnostically (to detect malignantprostate cells) and prognostically (to predict recurrence of disease).
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DNAwas isolated from prostate cancer and normal adjacent tissues and then themethylation state of 14,495 genes was determined by a microarray analysis. Methylationprofiles were analyzed in 4 different groups: group 1 compared tumor (n=198)vs. matched normal tissues (n=40); group 2 compared recurrence (n=123) vs. non-recurrence(n=75); group 3 compared clinical recurrence (n=80) vs. biochemical recurrence(n=43); and group 4 compared systemic recurrence (n=36) vs. local recurrence (n=44).
Microarrayanalysis revealed significant methylation of genes in four different groups ofprostate cancer tissues. The sensitivity and specificity of methylation for 25genes from groups 1, 2, and 4, and 7 from group 3 were shown. Validation ofgenes by pyrosequencing from group 1 (GSTP1, HIF3A, HAAO, and RARβ), group 2(CRIP1, FLNC, RASGRF2, RUNX3, and HS3ST2), group 3 (PHLDA3, RASGRF2, andTNFRSF10D), and group 4 (BCL11B, POU3F3, and RASGRF2) confirmed the microarrayresults.
Theinvestigators concluded: “Our study provides a global assessment of DNAmethylation in prostate cancer and identifies the significance of genes asdiagnostic and progression biomarkers of prostate cancer.”
