Detection of promoter methylation of TFAP2E gene in gastric cancer and its clinical significance

Objective: To investigate the methylation status of transcription factor activator protein 2E (TFAP2E) gene in gastric cancer tissues and the normal gastric mucosa tissues, as well as its clinical significance. Methods: Methylation-sensitive high-resolution melting (MS-HRM) curve was used to examine the methylation status of TFAP2E gene in 90 tissue specimens of gastric cancer and 31 tissue specimens of normal gastric mucosa. The correlations between the methylation status of TFAP2E gene with the incidence of gastric cancer and the clinicopathological characteristics were analyzed. Results: The incidence rate of TFAP2E gene methylation in gastric cancer tissues was 98.9% (89/90), which was significantly higher than that in the normal gastric mucosa tissues [77.4% (24/31); P < 0.001]. The methylation level of TFAP2E gene was positively correlated with the incidence of gastric cancer (r = 0.430, P < 0.001). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.764, demonstrating that the methylation of TFAP2E gene might predict the occurrence of gastric cancer. There was no correlation between TFAP2E gene methylation and the age, gender, lesion site, depth of cancer invasion, lymph node metastasis, and distant metastasis of patients with gastric cancer. However, the methylation of TFAP2E gene was associated with the grade of cell differentiation and clinical stage (P < 0.001, P = 0.006). Conclusion: The incidence rate of TFAP2E gene methylation in gastric cancer tissues is higher than that in normal gastric mucosa tissues. The methylation level of TFAP2E gene is positively correlated with the incidence rate of gastric cancer. The methylation of TFAP2E gene is associated with the grade of cell differentiation and clinical stage of patients with gastric cancer DOI:10.3781/j.issn.1000-7431.2014.33.523