G. Ramesh1, Shalini N. Swamy2, S. Sandeep Kumar3, C. S. Premalata4, V. R. Pallavi5
PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to assess the promoter hypermethylation status of the apoptotic gene Death Associated Protein Kinase (DAPK) in epithelial ovarian cancer and its association with various clinicopathological parameters.
METHODS: 110 epithelial ovarian cancers samples were assessed to study the hypermethylation by nested and Methylation Specific PCR.
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: All the available data was statistically analyzed using the Chi square test or Fisher Test on the SPSS software version 21.0.
RESULTS: 31.2% and 14.2% methylation frequencies were observed for malignant and low malignant potential tumors respectively. A zero percent methylation was noted in benign and non-malignant samples.
CONCLUSION: The observed promoter hypermethylation frequency for DAPK gene suggests that it plays a role in tumorogenesis. The methylation status along with biochemical parameters can aid in the early diagnosis of the disease and also serve as a prognostic tool. Due to Frequent hypermethylation of the DAPK promoter in several cancer types, studying the methylation pattern of the gene has been proposed as a diagnostic and follow-up test.
