title: Association between P16INK4a Promoter Methylation and Ovarian Cancer: A Meta-Analysis of 12 Published Studies.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Ovarian cancer is the primary cause of death in women diagnosed with gynecological malignancies worldwide. Absence of early symptoms prevents prompt diagnosis or successful therapeutic intervention. P16INK4a is a well-known tumor suppressor gene (TSG). Aberrant methylation of TSG promoter is an important epigenetic silencing mechanism leading to ovarian cancer progression. Studies have reported differences in methylation frequencies of the p16INK4a promoter between ovarian cancer and the corresponding control group. However, the association between p16INK4a promoter methylation and ovarian cancer remains unclear and controversial. Therefore, a meta-analysis was conducted to clarify the relationship between p16INK4a promoter methylation and ovarian cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE and CNKI were searched to identify eligible studies for the evaluation of the association between p16INK4a promoter methylation and ovarian cancer. Odds ratio (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) were calculated to determine the strength of association between p16INK4a promoter methylation and ovarian cancer.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 612 ovarian cancer patients and 289 controls from 12 eligible studies were included in the meta-analysis. Overall, a significant association was observed between p16INK4a methylation status and ovarian cancer risk using a fixed-effects model (OR = 2.02, 95% CI = 1.39-2.94).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of our meta-analysis show that aberrant methylation of p16INK4a promoter was significantly associated with ovarian cancer. It may represent a promising molecular marker to monitor the disease and provides new insights into the treatment of human ovarian cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Xiyue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Fucheng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Xun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and the Ministry of Education Key Lab of Environment and Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhong
mesh_terms: D019941:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16 / Q000235:genetics*; D019175:DNA Methylation; D005260:Female; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic
chemical_list: D019941:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16