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The methylation status of RASSF1A promoter predicts responsiveness to chemotherapy and eventual cure in hepatoblastoma patients
Author(s) -
Honda Shohei,
Haruta Masayuki,
Sugawara Waka,
Sasaki Fumiaki,
Ohira Miki,
Matsunaga Tadashi,
Yamaoka Hiroaki,
Horie Hiroshi,
Ohnuma Naomi,
Nakagawara Akira,
Hiyama Eiso,
Todo Satoru,
Kaneko Yasuhiko
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.23613
Subject(s) - hepatoblastoma , methylation , dna methylation , oncology , univariate analysis , medicine , multivariate analysis , cdkn2b , stage (stratigraphy) , survival analysis , cancer research , biology , cancer , gene , cdkn2a , genetics , gene expression , paleontology
Abstract Despite the progress of therapy, outcomes of advanced hepatoblastoma patients who are refractory to standard preoperative chemotherapy remain unsatisfactory. To improve the mortality rate, novel prognostic markers are needed for better therapy planning. We examined the methylation status of 13 candidate tumor suppressor genes in 20 hepatoblastoma tumors by conventional methylation‐specific PCR (MSP) and found hypermethylation in 3 of the 13 genes. We analyzed the methylation status of these 3 genes ( RASSF1A , SOCS1 and CASP8 ) in 97 tumors and found hypermethylation in 30.9, 33.0 and 15.5%, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that only the methylation status of RASSF1A but not the other 2 genes predicted the outcome, and multivariate analysis showed a weak contribution of RASSF1A methylation to overall survival. Using quantitative MSP, we found RASSF1A methylation in 44.3% of the 97 tumors. CTNNB1 mutation was detected in 67.0% of the 97 tumors. While univariate analysis demonstrated RASSF1A methylation, CTNNB1 mutation and other clinicopathological variables as prognostic factors, multivariate analysis identified RASSF1A methylation ( p = 0.043; relative risk 9.39) and the disease stage ( p = 0.002; relative risk 7.67) but not CTNNB1 mutation as independent prognostic factors. In survival analysis of 33 patients in stage 3B or 4, patients with unmethylated tumor had better overall survival than those with methylated tumor ( p = 0.035). RASSF1A methylation may be a promising molecular‐genetic marker to predict the treatment outcome and may be used to stratify patients when clinical trials are carried out. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.