Clinical significance of detection of p16 gene methylation in early diagnosis of lung cancer / 中国病理生理杂志

ABSTRACT

AIM:To investigate the aberrant methylation in the promoter of p16 in plasma,sputum,bronchoalveolar lavage fluid(BALF),pleural effusion and biopsy specimens from suspected lung cancer patients and to evaluate the clinical significance in the early diagnosis of lung cancer.METHODS:Using methylation specific PCR(MSP)for the detection of promoter methylation of p16 gene in plasma,sputum,BALF,pleural effusion and biopsy specimens from suspected lung cancer patients.RESULTS:Of the 67 cases of suspected lung cancer patients,42 were proved by pathology.The positive percentages of p16 gene promoter methylation of the lung cancer patients are as follows52.4%(22/42)in plasma,47.6%(20/42)in sputum,59.5%(25/42)in BALF,71.4%(10/14)in pleural effusion and 61.9%(26/42)in biopsy specimens,respectively;while promoter methylation in p16 gene was found only one in plasma and one in pleural effusion in 25 patients with various benign lesions(P0.05).CONCLUSION:Detection of the aberrant methylation in the promoter of p16 gene in plasma,sputum,BALF,pleural effusion and biopsy specimens from lung cancer patients by MSP method is a kind of rising technology with development potential for lung cancer early diagnosis.