Promoter methylation of DAPK1, RAR-β and MGMT in exfoliated cervical cytology and its clinical application

To assess the correlation of promoter methylation of DAPK1, RAR-β and MGMT with cervical lesions from cytology to histology, and to reveal the clinical value of DNA methylation in diagnosis of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). A total of 103 random-selected cervical samples were collected from residual liquid-based cytology specimens after clinical use in cytopathological diagnosis in outpatient clinic of obstetrics and gynecology, Peking Union Medical Collage Hospital from March 2010 to October 2010. Informed consent was obtained from each woman before the initiation of the study. The methylation sensitive-high resolution melt (MS-HRM) assay was used to evaluate promoter methylation of three genes (DAPK1, RAR-β and MGMT) in 103 biopsy-confirmed liquid-based cervical cytology samples. Methylation levels and high-risk HPV DNA loading (HCII values) were analyzed in relation to both cytological and histological diagnosis. The methylation level of all three genes showed significant difference among the di