The aim of the present study was to investigate the correlation between the expression of DNA (cytosine‑5)‑methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1), glutathione S‑transferase‑P1 (GSTP1) and adenomatous polyposis coli (APC), and the methylation status of GSTP1 and APC in prostate cancer (PCa) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), and to examine its clinical significance. Immunohistochemistry and reverse transcription‑polymerase chain reaction (RT‑PCR) was used to detect the expression of DNMT1, GSTP1 and APC in 56 samples of PCa tissue and 10 samples of BPH tissue. Methylation‑specific‑PCR was used to detect the methylation status of the CpG island promoters of GSTP1 and APC. The positive rate of expression of DNMT1 in poorly‑differentiated PCa, moderately‑differentiated PCa, well‑differentiated PCa and BPH was 86.7%, 70.6%, 55.6% and 30.0%, respectively (P<0.05); for GSTP1, the positive rate was 13.3%, 29.4%, 44.4% and 90.0%, respectively (P<0.05); and for APC, the positive rate was 23.3%, 47.6%, 55.6% and 70.0%, respectively (P<0.05). The correlation coefficient for the association between the expression of DNMT1 and GSTP1 was ‑0.891 (P<0.05). Between the expression of DNMT1 and APC, the correlation coefficient was ‑0.721 (P<0.05). GSTP1 and APC were hypermethylated in the majority of PCa tissue samples. The positive rate of methylation of these genes in poorly‑differentiated PCa was 83.3% and 73.3%, respectively. By contrast, hypomethylation (or demethylation) was observed in BPH samples, in which the positive rate of methylation was 10.0% and 20.0%, respectively (P<0.05). The increased expression of DNMT1, and the reduced expression of GSTP1 and APC have an important role in the development of PCa. Due to the high expression of DNMT1 mRNA, it is likely that the hypermethylation of CpG islands contributed to the silencing of GSTP1 and APC in PCa tissues.