Evaluation of the methylation profile of exfoliated cell samples from patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

BackgroundSilencing of tumor suppressor genes plays a vital role in head and neck carcinogenesis. the purposes of this study were to determine the methylation profile of exfoliated tumors cells collected from patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and to evaluate its prognostic significance.MethodsThe methylation profile and level of a 20-gene panel were evaluated by quantitative methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (qMSP) in exfoliated tumor cell samples from 96 patients with HNSCC.ResultsCCNA1 (60.4%), DCC (54.2%), and TIMP3 (35.4%) were frequently methylated in these samples. Patients with exfoliated tumors cells positive for DCC methylation showed a trend toward a lower local recurrence-free survival.ConclusionThese findings indicate that a low invasive method could be used to access the methylation profile of exfoliated cells from patients with HNSCC. Moreover, our data provide evidence that hypermethylation of DCC could be useful as prognostic indicator for this malignancy. (c) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 36: 631-637, 2014Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Ciencias Biol, Lab Biol Mol Canc, São Paulo, BrazilHosp AC Camargo Fund Antonio Prudente, Dept Cirurgia Cabeca & Pescoco, São Paulo, BrazilHosp Canc Barretos, Dept Cirurgia Cabeca & Pescoco, Barretos, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Ciencias Biol, Lab Biol Mol Canc, São Paulo, BrazilFAPESP: 2008/58460-9FAPESP: 2005/02580-8FAPESP: 07/56471-0FAPESP: 07/56245-0CNPq: 313181/2009-8CNPq: 302360/2008-5Web of Scienc