Detection of OSR2, VAV3, and PPFIA3 Methylation in the Serum of Patients with Gastric Cancer.

AIM: This study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of OSR2, VAV3, and PPFIA3 hypermethylation in gastric cancer (GC) patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: By using methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP), we detected the methylation status in tissue and serum samples from 48 gastric cancer (GC) patients and 25 normal individuals. RESULTS: We found that OSR2, VAV3, and PPFIA3 were methylated in 70.8% (34/48), 54.2% (26/48), and 60.4% (29/48) of GC tissue, respectively. On the contrary, those genes were barely methylated in their paired paracancerous histological normal tissues (PCHNTs) (all P values < 0.01). We next analyzed the methylated OSR2, VAV3, and PPFIA3 in serum DNA. Compared with 25 normal individuals, those three genes were significantly hypermethylated in GC patients serum samples (all P values < 0.01). Regarding their diagnostic value in serum samples, the combined sensitivity of at least one positive among the three markers in serum was 83.3%, with a specificity of 88%. CONCLUSION: Our test suggested that methylation of OSR2, VAV3, and PPFIA3 genes in serum sample may offer a good alternative in a simple, promising, and noninvasive detection of GC.