The clinicopathological significance of RUNX3 hypermethylation and mRNA expression in human breast cancer, a meta-analysis.
Aberrant promoter methylation of RUNX3 has been reported in several tumors including human breast cancer (BC). However, the association between RUNX3 hypermethylation and incidence of BC remains elusive. In this study, a detailed literature search was performed in Medline and Google Scholar for related research publications. Analysis of pooled data were executed. Odds ratios with corresponding confidence intervals were determined and summarized, respectively. Finally, 13 studies were identified for the meta-analysis. Analysis of the pooled data showed that RUNX3 hypermethylation was significantly higher in both ductal carcinoma in situ and invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) than in normal breast tissues. In addition, RUNX3 methylation was significantly higher in IDC than in benign tumor. However, RUNX3 methylation was not significantly higher in IDC than in ductal carcinoma in situ. We also determined that RUNX3 hypermethylation was significantly higher in ER positive BC than in ER negative BC. In addition, high RUNX3 mRNA expression was found to be correlated with better overall survival and relapse-free survival for all BC patients. Our results strongly support that RUNX3 hypermethylation may play an important role in BC incidence. RUNX3 methylation is a valuable early biomarker for the diagnosis of BC. Further large-scale studies will provide more insight into the role of RUNX3 hypermethylation in the carcinogenesis and clinical diagnosis of BC patients.
Department of Thoracic Surgery, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Xiao-Yun
XY
Song
Department of Breast Surgery, Inner Mongolia Forestry General Hospital, Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China.
Bo-Yan
BY
Li
Department of General Surgery, the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, People's Republic of China.
En-Xiang
EX
Zhou
Department of Breast Surgery, Beijing Luhe Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Feng-Xia
FX
Wu
RUNX3; breast cancer; estrogen receptor; meta-analysis; methylation; odds ratio