5′-CpG Island Methylation of the FHIT Gene is Associated with Reduced Protein Expression and Higher Clinical Stage in Cervical Carcinomas

Abstract

Aberrant transcription of the FHIT gene has been observed in many solid tumors, suggesting that 5'-CpG island methylation of the FHIT gene is involved in tumor development. The authors investigated the status of the 5'-CpG island methylation of the FHIT gene and protein expression in a series of 40 cervical carcinomas and 10 normal cervical epithelial samples, and correlated the data with clinicopathological findings. Methylation-specific PCR was applied to detect the incidence of the 5'-CpG island methylation, and immunohistochemistry was used for FHIT protein staining. 5'-CpG island methylation of the FHIT gene was detected in 40% (16/40) of the cervical cancer samples and in none of normal cervical epithelial specimens. Furthermore, the 5'-CpG island methylation was positively associated with clinical stage ( p =.002). All the normal cervical epithelial samples (10/10) and 90% (36/40) of the cervical carcinomas were positive when the unmethylated primer pair was applied. Of the 16 cervical carcinomas with 5'-CpG island methylation of the FHIT gene by PCR, 15 showed reduced FHIT protein expression. This study suggests that 5'-CpG island methylation plays an important role in inactivation of the FHIT gene in cervical cancer.

• Cervical Carcinoma
• 5′-CpG Island
• Fhit
• Immunohistochemistry
• Pcr