Multipoint methylation analysis indicates a distinctive epigenetic phenotype among testicular germ cell tumors and testicular malignant lymphomas.

Hypermethylation of tumor-suppressor genes has been implicated in the pathogenesis of human cancers. Although a growing number of genes showing hypermethylation is being reported in human cancer, methylation profiles of tumor-related genes in testicular neoplasms have not been well elucidated. This study was designed to show the methylation profiles of multiple CpG islands in testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs) in comparison with those in testicular malignant lymphomas. We studied the methylation status of E-cadherin, CDKN2B, CDKN2A, BRCA1, RB1, VHL, RASSF1A, RARB, and GSTP1 by use of TGCT tissues and testicular malignant lymphoma tissues (25 primary TGCT tissues and three primary testicular lymphoma tissues). Methylation was not observed in E-cadherin, CDKN2B, CDKN2A, BRCA1, RB1, VHL, RASSF1A, RARB, and GSTP1 in any of the TGCT tissues. In contrast, all three (100%) of the testicular lymphoma tissues demonstrated hypermethylation of E-cadherin, RASSF1A, and RARB, but not CDKN2B, CDKN2A, BRCA1, RB1, VHL, and GSTP1. These data demonstrate that a distinctive epigenetic phenotype underlies the TGCTs and testicular lymphomas at the CpG sites of E-cadherin, RASSF1A, and RARB; a distinctive epigenetic phenotype was not observed among seminomatous TGCTs and non-seminomatous TGCTs at the CpG sites examined. Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.