title: Is global DNA methylation in sporadic uterine adenocarcinomas in women a result of histological and clinical tumor advancement?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To find out the relationship, if any between the extent of the overall genomic DNA methylation, and clinical and pathological features of the sporadic endometrial adenocarcinomas in women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Genomic DNA was isolated from 44 primary uterine cancer tissue specimens. There were eight G1, 24 G2 and twelve G3 tumors.
  
  
  METHODS
  m5dC level was estimated after enzymatic digestion of DNA into nucleotides, 32P-postlabelling, two-dimensional thin-layer chromatography on cellulose plates and phosphorobioimaging. The overall m5dC of the uterine cancer DNAs expressed as a ratio: (pm5dC/pm5dC+pdC) x 100% was compared to results obtained for parallel investigated but published earlier normal human endometrium DNAs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean total cancer DNA methylation (3.48+/-0.46%) was significantly higher than that of the normal proliferative endometrium (2.94+/-0.4%, p=0.003) and lower than that of the secretory endometrium DNAs (3.75+/-0.47%, p=0.03). Among all endometrial cancer DNAs six were found to be hypomethylated, eight were hypermethylated, whereas the remaining 30 had m5dC within range of normal endometrium. Total DNA methylation was significantly higher in poorly differentiated (G3) than in lower grade neoplasms (3.94+/-0.46 vs. 3.3+/-0.32%, p=0.025). Lower levels of DNA methylation seemed to be associated with diminished tumor invasiveness.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that alterations in overall DNA methylation seem to be a result of neoplastic transformation and could therefore be used as a prognostic molecular marker of endometrial cancer.
authors.affiliation: II Department of Gynecology, Medical University of Lublin, Poland. postawski@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Krzysztof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Postawski
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gałecka-Josse
authors.forename: Włodzimierz
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Baranowski
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D019175:DNA Methylation / Q000235:genetics*; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D020868:Gene Silencing; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011044:Poland; D014594:Uterine Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004247:DNA