ESR1 methylation in primary tumors and paired circulating tumor DNA of patients with high-grade serous ovarian cancer.
Gynecol Oncol
; 150(2): 355-360, 2018 08.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-29807696
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
Estrogen receptor, coded by the ESR1 gene, is highly expressed in epithelial ovarian cancer. ESR1 gene is frequently methylated in many types of gynecological malignancies. However, only a few studies attempted to investigate the role of ESR1 methylation and its clinical significance in ovarian cancer so far. The aim of our study was to examine ESR1 methylation status in primary tumors and corresponding circulating tumor DNA of patients with high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSC).METHODS:
ESR1 methylation was detected by a highly specific and sensitive real-time methylation-specific PCR assay. Two groups of HGSC samples were analyzed group A (nâ¯=â¯66 primary tumors) and group B (nâ¯=â¯53 primary tumors and 50 corresponding plasma samples).RESULTS:
ESR1 was found methylated in both groups of primary tumors in 32/66 (48.5%) of group A and in 15/53 (28.3%) of group B. 19/50 (38.0%) corresponding plasma samples of group B were also methylated for ESR1. A significant agreement for ESR1 methylation was observed between primary tumors and paired plasma ctDNA samples (Pâ¯=â¯0.004). Interestingly, the presence of ESR1 methylation in primary tumor samples of group B was significantly correlated with a better overall survival (Pâ¯=â¯0.027) and progression-free survival (Pâ¯=â¯0.041).CONCLUSIONS:
We report for the first time the presence of ESR1 methylation in plasma ctDNA of patients with HGSC. The agreement between ESR1 methylation in primary tumors and paired ctDNA is statistically significant. Our results indicate a correlation between the presence of ESR1 methylation and a better clinical outcome in HGSC patients.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Ovarian Neoplasms
/
Cystadenocarcinoma, Serous
/
DNA Methylation
/
Estrogen Receptor alpha
/
Circulating Tumor DNA
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Middle aged
Language:
En
Journal:
Gynecol Oncol
Year:
2018
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Greece