Promoter hypermethylation as an epigenetic component in Type I and Type II endometrial cancers.
Epigenetic mechanisms that result in aberrant gene expression are a prominent feature of many cancer types. One main epigenetic mechanism for gene silencing involves promoter hypermethylation. Type I and type II endometrial cancers exhibit differing clinical, histologic, and molecular genetic characteristics. We hypothesize that these differences also extend to epigenetic phenomena. Promoter methylation analysis of 11 genes in a panel of endometrial cancers supports this hypothesis. These initial data indicate that promoter hypermethylation events occur frequently in type 1 cancer and were not detected in type II cancers using this panel of loci. These data tend to support the hypothesis that type I and type II endometrial cancers will exhibit distinct patterns of gene silencing based on promoter hypermethylation events.
Laboratory of Biosystems and Cancer, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.
John I
JI
Risinger
G Larry
GL
Maxwell
Andrew
A
Berchuck
J Carl
JC
Barrett
D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics; D019175:DNA Methylation; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic