title: Evaluation of serum LINE-1 hypomethylation as a prognostic marker for hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Global hypomethylation is one of the most consistent epigenetic changes in cancer. Development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) must be understood as a multistep process with accumulation of genetic and epigenetic alterations. In the last decades, in addition to genetic alterations, epigenetic changes have been recognized as an important and alternative mechanism in tumourigenesis. We investigated the clinical implications of global hypomethylation in the sera of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
  
  
  METHODS
  PCR was used to assess the methylation status of long interspersed nuclear element type 1 (LINE-1) repetitive sequences in genomic DNA derived from sera of 50 patients with HCC, 20 patients with cirrhosis, 20 patients with chronic hepatitis C and 10 healthy subjects.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Serum genome hypomethylation was significantly increased in patients with HCC (p<0.001). The levels of serum LINE-1 hypomethylation at initial presentation correlated significantly with tumour size, tumour number and alpha-foetoprotein level. Moreover high serum LINE-1 hypomethylation correlates significantly with poor survival.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Serum LINE-1 hypomethylation may serve as a prognostic marker for patients with HCC.
authors: Department of Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
authors: Iman I
authors: II
authors: Ramzy
authors: Dalia A
authors: DA
authors: Omran
authors: Osama
authors: O
authors: Hamad
authors: Olfat
authors: O
authors: Shaker
authors: Alaa
authors: A
authors: Abboud
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality; D019175:DNA Methylation; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics*; D004534:Egypt / Q000453:epidemiology; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality; D020084:Long Interspersed Nucleotide Elements / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate / Q000639:trends; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm