Methylation analysis of BRCA1, RASSF1, GSTP1 and EPHB2 promoters in prostate biopsies according to different degrees of malignancy.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. CpG island methylation causes gene silencing and could be decisive in prostate carcinogenesis and progression. Its role was investigated at multiple gene sites during prostate carcinogenesis. Methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MS-PCR) was used to analyze 4 interest gene promoter status in 12 patients with adenocarcinoma, 7 patients with prostate intraepithelial neoplasia, 3 patients with peritumor tissues and 15 healthy patients, so a total of 37 prostate biopsy samples constituted the cohort of the study. Despite the biopsy histology, the results have confirmed that BRCA1, RASSF1, GSTP1 and EPHB2 promoter methylation was found in each sample, except two.