The significance of RASSF2A promoter methylation in the early diagnosis of epithelial ovarian cancer

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the methylation status of RASSF2A in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) tissues and plasma, and to explore the correlations in two kinds of samples with clinicopathological characteristics. Methods The frequency of methylation of the RASSF2A gene in tissues and corresponding plasma samples from 60 EOC patients, 20 patients with benign ovarian tumors and 10 patients with normal ovarian tissues were detected respectively. The methylation-specific PCR was used to determine the methylation status. Results The frequency of aberrant methylation of RASSF2A was 58.3 % (35/60) in EOC tissues and 43.3 % (26/60) in corresponding plasma samples respectively, however, such hypermethylation was not detected in the benign ovarian tumors and normal ovarian samples, and there was significant difference between them (P 0.05). Conclusions The promoter methylation of RASSF2A gene is an early and frequent epigenetic event in EOC. Detection of promoter hypermethylation in plasma specimens can help the early diagnosis of EOC. Key words: Ovarian neoplasms; Gene, RASSF2A; Serum; Methylation