OBJECTIVE: To investigate relationship between methylation status of the APC and Bikunin CpG islands and clinicopathological characteristics of breast carcinomas. METHODS: The methylation status of APC and Bikunin CpG islands in 152 sporadic breast carcinoma samples were analyzed by methylation specific PCR. RESULTS: 40.8% of breast carcinomas examined showed methylated signals for the APC. The methylation frequency of APC was significantly correlated to the tumor size (chi(2) = 4.041; P = 0.044), but not to patients' age, pathologic type of tumor, clinical stage, histological grade, lymph node metastasis and the status of estrogen or progestogen receptor. In addition, 24.6% of carcinoma samples examined revealed strong methylated signals for Bikunin. No significant correlation was found between the aberrant methylation of Bikunin and the clinicopathological characteristics of sporadic breast carcinomas. CONCLUSION: The aberrant methylations of APC and Bikunin are frequent events during breast carcinogenesis. APC methylation might play a role in the progression of breast cancer.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate relationship between methylation status of the APC and Bikunin CpG islands and clinicopathological characteristics of breast carcinomas. METHODS: The methylation status of APC and Bikunin CpG islands in 152 sporadic breast carcinoma samples were analyzed by methylation specific PCR. RESULTS: 40.8% of breast carcinomas examined showed methylated signals for the APC. The methylation frequency of APC was significantly correlated to the tumor size (chi(2) = 4.041; P = 0.044), but not to patients' age, pathologic type of tumor, clinical stage, histological grade, lymph node metastasis and the status of estrogen or progestogen receptor. In addition, 24.6% of carcinoma samples examined revealed strong methylated signals for Bikunin. No significant correlation was found between the aberrant methylation of Bikunin and the clinicopathological characteristics of sporadic breast carcinomas. CONCLUSION: The aberrant methylations of APC and Bikunin are frequent events during breast carcinogenesis. APC methylation might play a role in the progression of breast cancer.
Authors: I Van der Auwera; S J Van Laere; S M Van den Bosch; G G Van den Eynden; B X Trinh; P A van Dam; C G Colpaert; M van Engeland; E A Van Marck; P B Vermeulen; L Y Dirix Journal: Br J Cancer Date: 2008-10-07 Impact factor: 7.640