APC gene hypermethylation and prostate cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Prostate cancer (PCa) is a worldwide disease that affects a large number of males. Although prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening is used, the specificity is limited. This study analyzes the sensitivity and specificity of adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) methylation for PCa detection in body fluids and tissues. Combining search results from PubMed and Embase, 19 studies were included, 5 involving body fluids and 14 involving prostate tissue, with 2344 subjects. In body fluid subgroups, the pooled sensitivity and specificity was 0.53 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.28–0.78) and 0.92 (95% CI: 0.86–0.95), respectively. From tissue studies, the results presented as 0.84 (95% CI: 0.70–0.92) and 0.91 (95% CI: 0.77–0.97). To confirm the results, we conducted a further analysis by removing studies which introduced high heterogeneity due to the type of cases and controls. The same degree of sensitivity and specificity was presented in two subgroups (urine: sensitivity 0.46, 95% CI: 0.39–0.53; specificity 0.87, 95% CI: 0.64–0.96; tissue: sensitivity 0.87, 95% CI: 0.72–0.94; specificity 0.89, 95% CI: 0.68–0.97). In addition, analysis of the interaction between APC methylation and PCa showed strong association in the whole data set (odds ratio (OR)=24.91, 95% CI: 12.86–48.24, I²=72.5%). Pooling the same two main subgroups (tissue/fluid) gave a pooled OR of 33.54 (95% CI: 14.88–75.59; I²=70.7%) and 8.20 (95% CI: 2.84–23.74, I²=64.2%), respectively. From this study, the results suggest that APC promoter methylation may be the potential testing for PCa diagnosis and provide a new viewpoint in the treatment of PCa.