Open AccessAssociation of Promoter Hypermethylation of the RASSF1A Gene With Prognostic Parameters in Endometrial Cancer
Author(s) -
Hoenil Jo,
Jae Weon Kim,
Gyeong Hoon Kang,
Noh-Hyun Park,
Yong Sang Song,
SoonBeom Kang,
Hyo-Pyo Lee
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
oncology research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1555-3906
pISSN - 0965-0407
DOI - 10.3727/000000006783981125
Subject(s) - endometrial cancer , dna methylation , methylation , tumor suppressor gene , stage (stratigraphy) , cancer research , oncology , medicine , cancer , lymph node , gene , biology , carcinogenesis , gene expression , genetics , paleontology
RASSF1A is a tumor suppressor gene that is frequently hypermethylated in various human cancers. In the present study, we examined RASSF1A methylation status in 70 patients with endometrial cancer to search for correlations between the promoter hypermethylation of RASSF1A and the clinicopathologic parameters. Thirty-six of 70 endometrial cancers demonstrated hypermethylation of the RASSF1A promoter. Advanced stage disease (FIGO stage III, IV), lymph node involvement, and high grade (G3) are more frequent in patients with RASSF1A hypermethylation than in those without. We also observed a higher incidence of recurrences and lower disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with RASSF1A hypermethylation (77.8% and 97.0% at 5 years for methylated and unmethylated patients, respectively, p = 0.039). Our results suggest that RASSF1A hypermethylation might be a useful indicator of tumor aggressiveness in endometrial cancer patients.