Hypermethylation of the RASSF1A gene promoter as the tumor DNA marker for nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Abstract

Background RASSF1A is a tumor suppressor gene. The methylation of RASSF1A has been reported to be associated with nasopharyngeal tumorigenesis. However, the heterogeneity was high among different studies. A meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the value of RASSF1A methylation for the diagnosis and early screening of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Methods Relevant articles were identified by searching the MEDLINE database. Frequency and odds ratio (OR) were applied to estimate the effect of CDH-1 methylation based on random-/fixed-effect models. The meta-analysis was performed by using MedCalc® software. Subgroup analyses were performed by test method, ethnicity, and source of nasopharyngeal carcinoma samples to determine likely sources of heterogeneity. Results A total of 17 studies, including 1688 samples (1165 nasopharyngeal carcinoma samples, and 523 from non-cancerous samples) were used for the meta-analysis. The overall frequencies of RASSF1A methylation were 59.68% and 2.65% in case-group and control-group, respectively. By removing the poor relative studies, the heterogeneity was not observed among the studies included. The association between RASSF1A gene methylation and the risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma was also confirmed by calculating the OR value of 30.32 (95%CI = 18.22–50.47) in the fixed-effect model (Q = 16.41, p = 0.36,I 2 = 8.62, 95% CI = 0.00–45.27). Additionally, the significant association was also found between the methylation of the RASSF1A gene and the subgroups. Conclusions This is the first meta-analysis that has provided scientific evidence that the methylation of RASSF1A is the potential diagnosis, prognosis, and early screening biomarker for nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

SEPT9, H4C6, and RASSF1A methylation in nasopharyngeal swabs: A reflection of potential minimally invasive biomarkers for early screening of nasopharyngeal cancer

“…While clinically validating SEPT9 and RASSF1A gene methylation for the diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, our study identifies and analyzes for the first time the association between H4C6 gene methylation and NPC with the aim of exploring the potential of gene methylation as a new biomarker for early detection of NPC. Here, targeting new genes we found that H4C6 was frequently methylated in 68.75% of NPC tissues, which is a higher frequency of methylation compared to other genes reported to be hypermethylated in NPC [ 17 ] . H4C6 methylation levels were also significantly higher in the nasopharyngeal cancer group than in the non-nasopharyngeal cancer control group ( P < .001).…”

Research Progress of DNA Methylation in Endometrial Cancer

“…In 2000, Dammann et al, first reported that the loss of expression of RASSF1A in lung cancer was associated with methylation of its CpG-island promoter [ 59 ]. Numerous research studies have demonstrated the abnormal expression of RASSF1A in different kinds of tumors, such as nasopharyngeal carcinoma, breast cancers, and ECs [ 60 , 61 , 62 ]. The overwhelming majority of reports revealed that the CpG island in the RASSF1A promoter was hypermethylated, which has been linked to the malignant transition of early benign tumors into later invasive carcinomas [ 63 , 64 ].…”