Abstract. Aberrant DNA methylation is associated with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), suggesting that gene promoter methylation may be a potential biomarker for the detection or risk prediction of NSCLC. The present study aimed to evaluate the potential usage of angiotensin II receptor type 1 (AGTR1) methylation in two major pathologic subtypes: Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC). Quantitative methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction was used to investigate the effect of AGTR1 promoter methylation in the tumor and the paired adjacent non-tumor tissue samples from 42 patients with LUSC, and 69 with LUAD. The percentage of methylated reference was calculated and presented as the median (interquartile range 25th-75th percentile). The results of the current study revealed that there was significantly increased AGTR1 promoter methylation in the tumor tissues compared with the paired adjacent non-tumor tissue [97.4 (57.22-130.5) vs. 85 (48.25-123); P=0.024]. Furthermore, higher AGTR1 promoter methylation was observed in patients with LUSC compared with LUAD (odds ratio=2.483; 95% confidence interval=1.125-5.480; P=0.023). Significant differences were identified in AGTR1 methylation between non-tumor and the tumor tissues in LUSC [113.5 (68.33-148.73) vs. 93.04 (45.94-140); P=0.008]. In addition, the Cancer Genome Atlas data of 378 patients with LUSC and 477 with LUAD revealed an inverse correlation between gene expression and the methylation status of AGTR1 promoter.. These data suggest that AGTR1 hypermethylation is a promising biomarker to assist in LUSC detection and diagnosis.
IntroductionLung cancer is a kind of malignancy that arises from epithelial cells. It is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide (1). There were nearly 1.8 million new patients and caused 159 million deaths in 2012, of which China accounted for more than one third (2). According to the size and appearance of the malignant cells, lung cancer is categorized as non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (3). NSCLC represents approximately 85% of lung cancer (4), and it can be further subdivided into large cell carcinoma, lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC). There are a lot of differences in molecular profiling, characteristics and therapeutic methods between LUAD and LUSC (5).Promoter hypermethylation of the tumor suppressor genes has been recognized as an important factor in inducing oncogenesis (6). For example, SRY-box 17 (SOX17) methylation was found in 60.2% of primary lung cancer samples, and promoter methylation of SOX17 silenced gene expression, leading to the elimination of cell proliferation suppression in lung cancer (7). Identification of specific gene hypermethylation may explain the genomic instability and complexity of NSCLC and provide a basis for targeted therapy or risk prediction.
AGTR1 promoter hypermethylation in lung squamouscell carcinoma but not in lung adenocarcinoma