Abstract:
Objective This study aimed to detect the special methylation profile in peripheral blood for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Methods The methylation status of 12 tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) in the plasma of 55 HCCs and 54 chronic liver diseases (CLDs) was tested by methylation-specific PCR (MSP).
Results In HCC, the methylation frequencies were 78.18% in APC, 63.64% in cyclin D2, 58.18% in TFPI2, 49.09% in DKK3, 49.09% in GSTP1, 47.27% in p16, 40.00% in Sigma 14-3-3, 18.18% in SFRP2, 16.36% in ppENK, 9.09% in DKK2, 7.27% in NPTX2, and 5.45% in LHX1. In CLD, the methylation frequencies were 27.78% in APC, 22.22% in cyclin D2, 7.41% in TFPI2, 3.70% in DKK3, 16.67% in GSTP1, 37.04% in p16, 37.04% in Sigma 14-3-3, 11.11% in SFRP2, 20.37% in ppENK, 7.41% in DKK2, 7.41% in NPTX2, and 9.26% in LHX1. The methylation frequencies of APC, cyclin D2, TFPI2, DKK3, and GSTP1 were higher in HCC than in CLD (P < 0.01). The methylation index (MI) of the five-gene methylation profile was statistically higher in HCC (median, 0.6; IQR, 0.4-0.8) than CLD (median, 0.2; IQR, 0-0.2) (P < 0.01). In HCC, MI was statistically related to the patient's age. Older patients with HCC had a higher MI. No significant correlation was observed between MI and other clinicopathological data. Moreover, MI was not related to the disease free survival and the overall survival in HCC.
Conclusion This five-gene methylation profile may be a promising biomarker for the assistant diagnosis of HCC.