Assessment of Promoter hypermethylation of APC and BRCA1 in endometrial cancer

Introduction: Endometrial cancer is one of the most common cancers in women worldwide. Theunderlying cause of endometrial tumorigenesis remains elusive. Several genetic and epigeneticalterations are known to be involved in the carcinogenesis of endometrial carcinoma. One importantand early epigenetic alteration that is attributed to endometrial carcinoma is the aberrant promoterhypermethylation of gene promoters. In this study, we have assessed the aberrant promoterhypermethylation of APC and BRCA1 in 78 endometrial cancer samples. Methods: Histologicallyconfirmed tumour tissue samples were obtained post-surgery and DNA was extracted. The DNA wassubjected to sodium bisulfite conversion and used as a template for a polymerase chain reaction.The PCR was performed using a nested PCR followed by methylation specific PCR. Results: A33.33% and 46.15% methylation frequency was observed for APC and BRCA1 genes respectively. Ahigher percentage of methylation was observed in stage IV for APC (66.66%) and in stage II forBRCA1 (88.88%). Conclusion: Aberrant promoter hypermethylation is an early event inendometrial carcinoma and can serve as a useful molecular marker for diagnosis and prognosis ofthe disease along with existing screening modalities.