Abstract
Background
UNC5C and DCC, the netrin-1 receptors, belong to the functional dependence receptors family, which shares the ability to induce apoptosis in the absence of their ligands. Recently, two reports indicated that UNC5C and DCC methylation was closely associated with loss of gene expression in colorectal cancer. These results prompted us to examine the methylation status of the UNC5C and DCC genes in the colorectal carcinomas we surgically removed.
Methods
The methylation status of the UNC5C and DCC genes were examined in primary carcinomas and the corresponding normal tissues derived from 50 patients with colorectal cancer using quantitative methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (qMSP). The correlation between the methylation status and the clinicopathologic findings was then evaluated.
Results
Aberrant methylation of the netrin-1 receptor genes were detected in 41 of the 50 (82%) primary colon cancers, suggesting that the aberrant methylation of netrin-1 receptors was frequently observed in colorectal cancer. The clinicopathologic data were then correlated with this result.
Conclusions
A significant difference was observed in the Dukes stage (p = 0.0438). Netrin-1 receptors might act as a tumor suppressor in colorectal cancers, and thus methylation might present a malignant potential in colorectal cancer.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge Mito Saito, Kazuyoshi Ishibashi, Gaku Kigawa, and Hiroshi Nemoto for their contribution to this article.
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Hibi, K., Mizukami, H., Shirahata, A. et al. Aberrant Methylation of the Netrin-1 Receptor Genes UNC5C and DCC Detected in Advanced Colorectal Cancer. World J Surg 33, 1053–1057 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-008-9909-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-008-9909-x