TFPİ2 methylation profile in serum of hepatopancreaticobiliary cancer patients

Introduction: Recent studies have shown tumour suppressor function of TFPI2 in various cancers and epigenetic silencing with promoter methylation (20). We aimed to investigate the methylation profile of TFPI2 in patients with hepatopancreaticobiliary cancer and discuss the use of TFPI2 as a non-invasive diagnostic or prognostic marker. Material and Methods: 70 patients with hepatopancreaticobiliary cancer and 28 healthy individuals with upper gastrointestinal complaints and without cancer were included in this study. Serum samples were collected from patient groups and control group and stored in -80°C. Distant metastases of patients were recorded and patients were monitored for survival. DNA was extracted from each serum sample and extracted DNA was treated with bisulfide. Methylation-Specific Polymerase Chain Reaction was performed to evaluate the methylation status. Bisulfide sequencing analysis was also performed to determine the methylated regions. Results: Three patients were excluded from statistical analysis due to failure in DNA extraction. We found significant correlation between methylation profile and diagnosis in HCC group but not in cholangiocellular and pancreas groups. There was no significant correlation between methylation profile and metastasis. We found significant correlation between methylation profile and survival in pancreas group but not in cholangiocellular and HCC groups. Conclusion: In conclusion, our study demonstrated that serum TFPI2 methylation could be used as a potential marker for non-invasive detection of HCC. It is also demonstrated that survival and TFPI2 methylation can be significantly correlated. Further studies with larger populations are needed. Keywords: TFPI2, methylation, hepatopancreaticobiliary, survival