HOXA9 methylation is not associated with survival in Brazilian patients with lung adenocarcinoma.

Homeobox A9 promoter methylation (HOXA9) has been reported as a biomarker for early lung adenocarcinoma patients' prognosis. We aim to evaluate its prognostic value, regardless of disease stage. Using droplet digital PCR, we measured HOXA9 methylation in a cohort comprising 161 Brazilian patients. Low HOXA9 methylation was associated with higher cancer-specific survival but showed no significance after adjustment for clinical covariates. While low HOXA9 methylation was associated with earlier stages, no survival association was observed in this subset of patients. Overall, HOXA9 promoter methylation is not an independent prognostic biomarker of cancer-specific survival in Brazilian lung adenocarcinomas patients.
Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The study was conducted according to Brazilian national and institutional ethical policies. The present study was previously approved by the Barretos Cancer Hospital IRB (Project #630/2012) and informed consent was waived. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
(© 2025. The Author(s).)