Analysis of the status of FHIT gene promoter methylation and its association with clinicopathological features of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Objective:To analyse of the status of FHIT promoter methylation and its association with FHIT gene expression and clinicopathological features of patients with hepatocelluar carcinoma(HCC) . Methods:Methylation-specific PCR assay was performed to detect the status of FHIT promoter methylation in HCC tissues and corresponding non-tumor tissues. RT-PCR and Western blotting assays were performed to detect the expression of FHIT mRNA and protein. Statistical analyses were performed to analyze the association between FHIT promoter methylation and clinicopathological features of HCC patients. Results:The results of MSP assays showed that the rate of FHIT promoter methylation in HCC tissues(60.8%) was significantly higher than that in corresponding non-tumor tissues(16.2%;x2=31.071,P=0.000) . Moreover,the expression of FHIT mRNA and protein in HCC or corresponding non-tumor tissues with full or partial methylation was significantly lower than that in those tissues with unmethylation. Additionally,statistical analyses showed that the FHIT promoter methylation was significantly associated with clinical stage and metastasis of HCC patients(P=0.006 and 0.049,respectively,but not with other features of HCC patients(P0.05) . Conclusion:The promoter methylation of FHIT gene might be an important factor for inactivation of FHIT gene in HCC. FHIT gene methylation was associated with hepatocarcinoma and would be molecular marker and target for early detection and therapy of HCC.