Detection And Clinical Significance Of The Promoter Methylation Of RASSF1A Gene In Gastric Cancer

AIM:To detect promoter methylation of RASSFIA gene in gastric cancer and to analyze their relationship with the clinical and pathological features.METHODS:Methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP) was used to detect promoter methylation of RASSF1A gene in gastric cancer tissues and their adjacent tissues from 39 patients, and 40 specimens of normal were detected with the same method as well. And the relationship between promoter methylation of RASSF1A gene and the clinical and pathological features was analyzed in gastric cancer.RESULTS:The positivity rate of promoter methylation of RASSFIA gene was significantly higher in gastric cancer than that in the corresponding non-neoplastic tissues and normal controls (64.1%vs.7.7%and 0%, P<0.01), but no significant difference was detected between the corresponding non-neoplastic tissues and normal controls (P>0.05). We found the promoter methylation status of RASSFIA gene in gastric cancer had no obviously relationship with the age, the gender, the degree or differentiation of tumor, nor the metastasis of lymph node.CONCLUSION:Hypermethylation of RASSFIA gene is present in the gastric cancer tissues, suggesting the hypermethylation of RASSFIA might be associated with the tumorigenesis of gastric cancer. It may provide help in the early detection of gastric cancer.Methylation specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP) is a novel and specific method for methylation detection around the promoter region, which can be helpful in diagnosis of gastric cancer clinically.