Aberrant genes promoter methylation in neural crest-derived tumors.

Authors :: la Torre A
Muscarella LA
Parrella P
Balsamo T
Bisceglia M
Valori VM
la Torre A
Barbano R
Perrella E
Poeta ML
Melchionda G
Merla G
Maiello E
Pellicano R
Fazio VM
Source :: The International journal of biological markers [Int J Biol Markers] 2012 Dec 27; Vol. 27 (4), pp. e389-94. Date of Electronic Publication: 2012 Dec 27.
Publication Year :: 2012
Abstract: Disturbances in the epigenetic landscape by aberrant methylation of CpG islands can lead to inactivation of cancer-related genes in solid tumors. We analyzed the promoter methylation status of 6 genes previously reported as cancer-specific methylated (MCAM, SSBP2, NISCH, B4GALT1, KIF1A and RASSF1A) in 38 neural crest-derived tumors by quantitative methylation-specific real-time PCR (QMSP). The results demonstrated that the determination of the methylation status of RASSF1A is able to distinguish between normal and tumor samples in cutaneous melanomas, lung carcinoids and small bowel carcinoids. MCAM methylation levels were significantly higher in lung carcinoids tumors (p=0.001), suggesting that this alteration may represent a molecular biomarker in this tumor type.