Investigation of Methylation Status of Homeobox D3 (HOXD3) and Protocadherin 17 (PCDH17) in Patients with Prostate Cancer

Abstract

OBJECTIVE Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers in male gender. Despite recent advances in the diagnosis and the treatment methods, more reliable molecular biomarkers have been needed for the diagnosis and evaluation of response to treatments such as chemotherapy, anti-androgen therapy, and radiotherapy. The aim of this study is to investigate promoter methylation status of HOX3D and PCDH17 genes in prostate cancer in Turkish population. METHODS A total of 46 patients with prostate cancer were included in this study. Tissue samples obtained from 36 patients with benign prostate hyperplasia were used as controls. Methylation status of HOXD3 and PCDH17 genes was determined by quantitative Methylation-Specific PCR with commercially available primer sets. RESULTS Both HOXD3 and PCDH17 promoter methylation was determined significantly higher in patients with compare to controls (p=0.0198 and p=0.0386, respectively). A significant but weak correlation was found between methylation status and pre-operative PSA level for HOXD3 (Spearman's rho=0.259, p=0.02) and PCDH17 gene (Spearman's rho=0.324, p=0.006). CONCLUSION Our results indicated that HOXD3 and PCDH17 promoter methylation levels are higher in patients with prostate cancer. Further studies with large sample cohorts and clinicopathological data will enlighten presumptive role of HOXD3 and PCDH17 methylation status.