Background & objective: Fragile histidine triad (FHIT) gene, a tumor suppressor gene, correlates with tumorigenesis of many solid tumors, and may be inactivated via methylation. This study was designed to explore relationship of methylation of 5'-CpG islands with inactivation of FHIT gene in cervical cancer.
Methods: Methylation of 5'-CpG islands in 10 normal cervical squamous epithelial tissues, and 40 cervical cancer tissues was detected with methylation specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP), protein expression of FHIT was detected with immunohistochemistry, and their correlations with clinicopathologic features of cervical cancer were statistically analyzed.
Results: (1) The 5'-CpG islands methylation rate of FHIT gene in cervical cancer tissues was 40.0% (16/40), while no methylation of FHIT gene was found in normal cervical tissues. (2) The methylation rates of FHIT gene in cervical cancer of stage I was 14.3% (2/14), significantly lower than that in cervical cancer of stage II (56.5%, 13/23) (P<0.05). (3) Expression of FHIT protein in cervical cancer was 33.0% (12/40), significantly lower than that in normal cervical tissue (100%, 10/10) (P<0.05).
Conclusion: The 5'-CpG islands methylation may play an important role in inactivation of FHIT gene, and may be related with tumorigenesis of cervical cancer.