Hypermethylation of the COX-2 gene is a potential prognostic marker for cervical cancer

AIM: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the DNA hypermethylation profiles of 14 genes known to be associated with tumor behavior and their clinical significance in cervical cancer. METHOD: The clinical features of 82 patients with stage IB cervical cancer were analyzed in terms of DNA hypermethylation of 14 genes (hMLH1, p16, COX-2, CDH1, APC, DAPK, MGMT, p14, RASSF1A, RUNX3, TIMP3, FHIT, THBS1, and HLTF). RESULTS: Of 14 genes investigated, only hypermethylation of COX-2 showed significant association with poor disease-free survival (P = 0.001). To further investigate an alteration in COX-2 expression by DNA hypermethylation, immunohistochemistry for COX-2 protein was performed in the cervical cancer tissues. We found no significant association between hypermethylation and expression patterns of the COX-2 gene. CONCLUSIONS: The present results suggest that DNA hypermethylation of the COX-2 gene may be a potential prognostic marker in early stage cervical cancer, the underlying mechanism of which is independent of gene silencing.