Abstract 2960: DNA promoter hypermethylation of genes as potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for ovarian cancer

Abstract

Abstract Till recently, epithelial ovarian cancers were thought to arise from the ovarian surface epithelial cells. However, recent studies suggest that the majority of high grade serous carcinomas (HGSCs) arise from lesions in the fallopian tubes. DNA promoter hypermethylation of certain genes is often an early event in tumorigenesis, and it can be detected in blood and other bodily fluids, making it a feasible biomarker strategy for early detection of tumors. Therefore, we sought to determine the methylation profile of HGSCs as compared to fallopian tube epithelium, using the Infinium HumanMethylation 450 Array. We compared the methylation in 12 HGSC tissue samples to 15 fallopian tube epithelium samples. In addition, we compared the methylation profile among long-term survivors (more than 5 years) and short-term survivors (2-3 years) of HGSCs. Our results identified the promoter regions of HIST1H2BB, MAGI2, and EPSTI1 to be differentially methylated when comparing HGSC with normal fallopian tube samples. Furthermore, these genes were differentially methylated in HGSC patients with long-term survival when compared to patients with short-term survival. Quantitative methylation specific PCR analysis confirmed our results of differential methylation among short-term and long-term survivors, and show that these genes are also methylated in ovarian cancer cell lines. Taken together, we have identified genes that could have potential as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. Our findings could lead to the development of a biomarker panel for the diagnosis and/or prognosis of ovarian cancer. Citation Format: Blanca L. Valle, Elisabetta Kuhn, David Sidransky, Rafael Guerrero-Preston. DNA promoter hypermethylation of genes as potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for ovarian cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 2960. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-2960