CDX2 methylation may predict the prognosis of patients with lung cancer

Abstract

IntroductionCDX2 methylation predicts poor prognosis in gastric cancer, squamous esophageal cancer and colorectal cancer. The present study was performed to investigate the roles of CDX2 methylation in lung cancer.Material and methodsOne hundred and sixty-seven patients with lung cancer were enrolled. Methylation-specific PCR (MSP) was performed to investigate the methylation status of CDX2. Sequencing of the CDX2 5’ CpG island was conducted as well. A 5-year follow-up was performed by a research nurse or dedicated physician. The primary endpoint was death related with lung cancer. Kaplan-Meier curve was used to analyze the survival situation of patients. Univariate and multivariate Cox analysis was performed to investigate the potential predictors for prognosis of patients with lung cancer.ResultsThe patients were classified into two groups according to CDX2 status: methylation (n=75) and unmethylation (n=92). After the 5-year follow-up, we found that the survival rate of patients with methylation of CDX2 was much lower than those with unmethylation of CDX2 (56% vs. 84.8%, P=0.000). Among the smoking patients, methylation of CDX2 was related with poorer prognosis of patients with lung cancer (P=0.000). DFS of patients with CDX2 methylation was lower than those without CDX2 methylation (56.0% vs. 73.9%, P=0.009). Univariate and multivariate Cox analysis demonstrated that CDX2 methylation served as independent prognostic predictor of patients with lung cancer (univariate: HR=3.705, 95%CI=1.922-7.139; multivariate: HR=3.418, 95%CI=1.826-6.397).ConclusionsCDX2 methylation may serve as independent prognostic predictor for patients with lung cancer.